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PRACTICAL 


FARM  DRAINAGE 


WHY,  WHEN  AND  HOW  TO  TILE  DRAIN. 


BY 


C.    G.    ELLIOTT, 


ILLUSTRATED. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  IND.: 

J  .    J.    W.    BILLINGSLEY,    PUBLISHER. 

1882. 


.  ex      v 


PREFACE. 


THE  following  pages  are  presented  to  those  who  are  interested 
in  the  subject  of  farm  drainage.  So  short  has  been  the  time  since 
the  introduction  of  tile  drainage  in  the  prairie  States,  that  farm- 
ers have  scarcely  taken  time  to  acquire  the  requisite  knowledge  of 
the  subject  before  they  have  begun  actual  operations.  The  drain- 
age practice  of  the  eastern  States  must  be  adapted  to  western  soil 
and  surroundings.  This  requires  time  and  close  observation. 
The  object  of  these  few  pages  is  to  give,  in  a  concise  and  plain 
manner,  that  which  the  farmer  should  know,  if  he  contemplates 
draining  his  farm.  It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  author  to  say  all 
there  is  to  be  said  upon  the  subject,  but  to  say  enough  to  give  the 
farmer  an  elementary  knowledge  of  why,  when,  where  and  how 
to  drain  his  farm.  The  practical  methods  described  in  these  pages 
have  been  well  tested,  and  are  now  in  constant  use  by  practical 
men.  It  is  hoped  that  the  language  is  sufficiently  clear  to  be  un- 
derstood by  all. 

TONICA,  ILLINOIS,  C.  G.  ELLIOTT, 

September,  1882.  Civil  Engineer. 


-nv'Yi- 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SOILS   AND   THE   RELATION   OF   DRAINAGE   TO   THEM. 

Introduction— Kinds  of  Land  Requiring  Drainage — Sources  of 
Water — Mechanical  Difference  Between  a  Wet  and  Dry  Soil 
(Illustrated).  The  Relation  of  the  Contour  of  the  Surface  and 
Subsoil  to  Drainage— Kinds  of  Drains — Open  Drains — Tile 
Drains. 

CHAPTER  II. 

ACTION   OF   DRAINS   UPON   THE  SOIL. 

How  Tile  Drains  Affect  the  Soil — Temperature — Chemical  Changes 
— Drought — Questions  to  be  Considered  Before  Commencing  to 
Drain. 

CHAPTER  III. 

LEVELING    AND   LOCATING    DRAINS. 

The  Outlet — Leveling — Level  Notes — Leveling^  Instruments — Lo- 
cation  of    Drains— Staking   and   Leveling  for  Drains — Field 
Notes  of  Main  Drain — Computing  Grade  and  Depth — Deter- 
'  mining  and  Adjusting  Grades. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DEPTH    AND    SIZES   OF    DRAINS. 

Silt  Basins — Depth  and  Distance  Apart  of  Drains — Sizes  of  Tile — 
Concrete  Tile. 

CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   THE    WORK. 

Mapping  Drains — Grading  the  Bottom  Outlet— Laying  Tile— Dif- 
ficulties in  Constructing  Drains — Obstruction  of  Drains — Junc- 
tions. 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DITCHING    MACHINES. 

Difficulties  Involved — Principles— The  Johnson   Tile   Ditcher — 
The  Blickensderfer  Tile  Drain  Ditcher. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

COST   AND  PROFIT. 

Cost  of  Drainage — Cost  of  Mains — Profits  of  Drainage. 
CHAPTER  VIII. 

ROAD  DRAINAGE. 

Improvement  of    Roads— Surface   Drainage — Under-Drainage — 
Effect  of  Tile  Drains  upon  Roads — Care  of  Drained  Roads. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FIG.  PAGE. 

1  A  Dry  Soil 5 

2  A  Wet  Soil 5 

3  A  Drained  Soil 5 

4  Surface  and  Subsoil 7 

5  Proper  Form  for  Open  Ditch 10 

6  How  Tile  Drains  Affect  the  Soil 14 

7  Faulty  Outlet 24 

8  Leveling 26 

9  Comstock  Level. 29 

10  Plan  of  Drainage 32 

11  Plan  of  Drainage 33 

12  Plan  of  Drainage 35 

13  Staking  Drains 37 

14  Silt  Basin 46 

15  Cross-Section  of  Drains 50 

16  Map  of  Drained  Field 61 

17  Tile  Hoe 62 

18  Grading  the  Bottom 64 

19  Outlet 66 

20  Junctions 70 

21  Johnson  Tile  Ditcher 73 

22  Blickensderfer  Tile  Drain  Ditching  Machine 74 

23  Plan  for  Improving  a  Road  87 

24  Cross-Section  of  Road  Improved. 88 

25  Cross-Section,  Showing  a  Drain  for  Intercepting  W^ter 90 


*-    0"   TUB         ^ 

'UNIVERSITY 


CHAPTER  I. 

SOILS,   AND  THE  RELATION  OF  DRAINAGE  TO  THEM. 

Introduction — Kinds  of  Land  Requiring  Drainage — Sources  of 
Water — Mechanical  Difference  Between  a  Wet  and  a  Dry  Soil — 
The  Relation  of  the  Contour  of  the  Surface  and  Sub-Soil  to 
Drainage — Kinds  of  Drains — Open  Drains — Tile  Drains. 

INTRODUCTION. 

But  very  little  attention  has  been  given  to  land  drain- 
age in  Illinois  and  other  western  states,  until  recently. 
A  casual  glance  at  our  farms  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
when  many  of  them  are  partially  submerged,  and  the 
farmer,  with  idle  men  and  teams,  is  impatiently  waiting 
for  the  slow  natural  drainage  of  flat  land,  and  the  evap- 
oration of  the  rainfall  by  heat  from  the  sun,  before  he 
can  begin  operations,  will  convince  any  observing  man 
that  the  rapid  removal  of  this  surplus  water  would  be 
of  immense  benefit  to  the  agricultural  community. 

The  practical  feasibility  of  this  work  is  at  present  the 
problem  with  many.  The  farmer  asks  himself  and 
others,  "Can  I  drain  my  field  or  my  farm  thoroughly, 
and  will  the  probable  returns  justify  the  outlay?" 
Valid  and  useful  conclusions  upon  this  matter  can  not 
be  arrived  at  until  we  have  availed  ourselves  of  the 
experience  of  others,  and  have  obtained  correct  ideas 
of  the  principles  of  drainage — what  thorough  drainage 
is,  and  what  it  will  accomplish. 

It  may  be  well  to  mention  a  few  of  the  benefits  ac- 
cruing from  drainage  which  are  of  actual  money  value 


A  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

to  the  farmer.  These  benefits  are  not  hidden  away  In 
the  soil,  but  may  be  seen  by  any  one  who  will  compare 
a  well-drained  field  with  one  which  is  wet  and  un- 
drained. 

First,  there  is  no  failure  of  crops  on  account  of  ex- 
cessive rains.  Almost  every  farmer  may  put  down 
among  his  losses  the  partial  or  total  failure  of  several 
acres  of  land  to  produce  a  crop  because,  during  some 
part  of  the  s.eason,  the  land  was  too  wet. 

Second,  the  soil  is  in  condition  to  receive  the  crop 
at  the  proper  season  of  the  year,  and  it  begins  a  healthy 
growth  at  once.  This  will  add  many  dollars  to  the 
value  of  the  field  each  year,  and  cost  no  more  labor. 

Third,  the  labor  which  produces  a  poor  crop  on  un- 
drained  land,  will  produce  an  excellent  one  on  the  same 
land  when  properly  drained.  In  this  way  crops  are 
often  doubled  on  what  is  called  average  farm  land. 

Fourth,  by  reason  of  the  absence  of  surplus  water  in 
the  soil,  grain  and  grass  are  not  "  heaved "  and  frozen 
out  in  winter  time. 

Fifth,  whatever  fertilizing  material  is  put  on  the  land 
is  made  more  available  for  plant  food,  for  the  reason 
that  the  soil  is  more  porous  and  not  surface-washed,, 
and  fertilizers  are  at  once  incorporated  in  the  soil. 
Undecayed  matter  put  upon  the  soil  decays  more  rap- 
idly and  becomes  sooner  prepared  for  the  use  of  plants. 
Fertilizing  gases  held  in  the  air  are  carried  by  the  rain 
into  the  soil,  making  it  more  rich,  instead  of  being 
washed  away  or  taken  with  vapor  into  the  air  again. 

Other  advantages  will  be  mentioned  as  we  proceed 
farther,  but  these  just  named  will  perhaps  be  sufficient 
to  show  the  importance  of  the  subject.  Each  season  as 
it  comes,  turns  another  leaf  of  the  book  of  Farm  Econ- 
omy, telling  the  same  story  in  different  ways;  and  em- 


RELATION    OF   DRAINAGE   TO   SOILS.  3 

phasizing  it  at  times  in  such  a  manner  as  to  compel  the 
farmer  to  heed  its  teachings. 

KINDS  OF  LAND  REQUIRING  DRAINAGE. 

Ponds  and  sloughs  are  wholly  unfit  for  cultivation, 
even  in  the  dryest  years,  without  drainage.  Ponds  are 
basins  which  seem  to  have  been  provided  by  nature  for 
receptacles  of  surplus  water  flowing  from  the  surround- 
ing high  land,  and  are  reservoirs  for  the  drainage  of 
land  which  gives  the  farmer  his  profits.  These  pond& 
are  generally  covered  with  aquatic  plants,  which  are 
very  tenacious  of  life  in  wet  soil,  but  easily  killed 
when  deprived  of  their  natural  nutriment  by  drainage. 
Sloughs  are  the  natural  water-courses  of  prairie  land, 
being  to  level  land  what  creeks  and  rivers  are  to  more 
rolling  and  hilly  sections.  These  are  often  broad  and 
flat,  allowing  water  to  spread  over  rods  of  valuable  land,, 
where  by  suitable  ditches  it  might  be  confined  to  a 
much  narrower  space  and  many  acres  of  valuable  land 
reclaimed. 

Flat  land  under  cultivation  is  usually  the  first  land 
which  directs  the  farmer's  attention  to  draining.  A 
season  which  is  drier  than  usual  shows  to  him  that  such 
soil,  when  not  too  wet,  will  produce  a  crop  equal  to  his 
best  fields.  On  this  land  the  natural  drainage  is  not 
rapid  enough  in  the  spring-time  to  fit  it  for  the  growth 
of  plants.  It  is  generally  cultivated  when  too  wet, 
which  causes  the  soil  to  become  compact  and  in  time 
of  drought  it  shrinks  and  cracks,  resulting  in  the  ruin 
of  the  crop  and  more  than  loss  of  the  labor ;  for  the 
soil  is  in  a  worse  condition  than  it  was  in  the  spring 
before  the  plow  was  started. 

Channels  or  runs  through  cultivated  land  often  are 
common  where  the  land  is  rolling.  Water  flows  down 


4  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

the  slopes  and  oozes  from  the  banks  until  these  runs 
are  so  wet  that  they  rarely  produce  a  crop,  and  are  a 
great  inconvenience  in  cultivating. 

SOURCES  OF  WATER. 

Primarily  the  source  of  all  water  of  use  or  injury 
to  the  agriculturist  is  the  rain-fall.  Considered,  how- 
ever, with  reference  to  drainage,  we  speak  of  surf  ace- 
water,  which  rests  upon  the  surface  of  the  soil,  a  part 
passing  down  to  the  sub-soil,  a  part  flowing  over  the 
surface  and  passing  off,  and  the  remainder  raised  by 
evaporation  or  used  by  plants ;  ooze  water,  which  passes 
through  the  soil  below  its  surface  and  finally  rests  in 
some  channel  or  flat  land,  saturating  it  until  it  is  unfit 
for  cultivation ;  spring  water,  which  has  its  source  in 
some  one  locality  of  the  field,  or  proceeds  from  some 
distant  source  through  its  own  channels  in  the  sub-soil. 
These  must  be  provided  for  by  drainage,  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  case. 

MECHANICAL  DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  A  WET  AND  A  DRY  SOIL. 

If  we  look  at  a  lump  of  dry  soil  by  means  of  a 
common  magnifying  glass  we  see  that  it  is  made  up  of 
small  particles  thrown  together  miscellaneously,  having 
small  cavities  between  them  resembling  those  of  a 
sponge.  The  particles  also  have  minute  pores  and 
cells  which  hold  liquids  by  the  power  of  absorption. 
The  figures  here  given  are  drawn  to  illustrate  this,  and 
are  similar  in  idea  to  those  of  Col.  Waring,  which  he 
borrows  from  an  English  Report  on  Drainage.  Let 
us  dry  a  portion  of  soil  and  from  it  cut  a  small  block. 
This,  placed  under  a  magnifying  glass,  will  appear 
somewhat  as  represented  in  figure  1.  It  is  composed 
of  irregularly  shaped  particles  having  channels  and 
cavities  between  them  similar  to  those  existing  in  a 


RELATION    OF   DRAINAGE   TO   SOILS.  5 

pile  of  small  stones.  These  particles  in  turn  have  very 
minute  cells,  capable  of  absorbing  and  holding  mois- 
ture. In  the  piece  before  us  there  is  no  moisture  be- 
tween the  particles  nor  in  them,  both  being  filled  with 


Fig. Is- A  dry  Soft 


.2--tA  wet  Soft 


£$g..B  -Jl  drained  Soil 

air  alone.  It  is  evident  from  the  laws .  of  vegetable 
growth  that  such  soil  is  unfit  for  the  growth  of  seed  or 
plant.  If  we  pour  water  upon  this  block  of  dry  soil 
until  if  will  hold  no  more,  we  have  the  state  of  things 
shown  in  figure  2.  The  cavities,  pores,  cells,  in  short,' 
every  space  before  occupied  by  air  is  now  filled  with 
water.  Seeds  and  roots  in  such  a  soil  can  not  thrive, 


6  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

for  all  air  is  excluded,  except  what  little  may  pass 
through  the  water  to  the  growing  roots. 

If  we  notice  the  soil  as  we  put  the  water  upon  the 
block  under  the  glass,  we  will  see  that  a  drop  placed 
upon  one  side  or  the  top,  changes  the  color  of  the  soil, 
showing  that  the  soil  is  moist,  but  there  is  no  change 
in  the  spaces  represented  in  the  figure.  This  state  is 
shown  in  fig.  3.  The  minute  spaces  in  the  particles 
are  filled  with  moisture  and  will  hold  a  certain  per- 
centage, varying  with  the  kind  of  soil,  while  the  spaces 
between  the  particles  are  filled  with  air.  We  have 
here  an  example  of  a  drained  soil  in  which  the  plant 
roots  have  access  to  both  air  and  moisture.  It  will  be 
seen,  then,  that  draining  is  simply  removing  the  surplus 
water  from  the  soil.  This  allows  the  atmosphere  to 
take  its  place,  thereby  giving  the  plant  needed  oxygen 
at  its  roots,  and  producing  a  chemical  change  in  the 
soil  which  gives  the  plants  more  nourishment. 

The  amount  of  water  held  by  absorption  varies 
greatly  with  the  kind  of  soil.  To  show  that  a  well 
drained  soil  is  by  no  means  a  dry  soil,  we  have  exper- 
iments by  Professor  Schubler,  who  found  that  one  hun- 
dred pounds  of  dry  soil  would  retain  the  following 
weight  of  water  that  would  not  flow  off  by  drainage : 

Sand 25  pounds. 

Loamy  Soil 40  pounds. 

Clay  Loam 50  pounds. 

Pure  Clay 70  pounds. 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  CONTOUR  OF  THE  SURFACE  AND  SUB-SOIL 
TO  DRAIN A(iK. 

A  cross  section  of  prairie  soil  usually  shows,  first, 
what  is  knoAvn  as  the  soil,  which  consists  of  loam,  more 
or  less  vegetable,  to  a  depth  of  from  18  to  30  inches, 
then  a  few  inches  of  mixed  soil  and  clay,  then  fine  clay, 


RELATION   OF   DRAINAGE   TO   SOILS.  7 

varying  in  color  according  to  locality.  This  consti- 
tutes the  sub-soil,  and  in  its  natural  state  is  not  so 
easily  permeated  by  water. 

Natural  drainage  in  such  a  soil  is  accomplished  by 
the  surface  water  flowing  down  the  slope,  and  the  ooze 
water  flowing  through  the  soil,  most  of  it  passing  down 
to  the  clay  sub-soil,  thence  gradually  oozes  down  the 
slope  until  it  finds  some  place  of  exit  or  level.  By 
reference  to  fig.  4  it  will  be  seen  that  the  relation  of 
surface  and  sub-soil  has  much  to  do  with  the  facility 
with  which  artificial  drainage  is  effected. 


Fig  A 

At  A  the  layer  of  clay  rises  nearer  the  surface  than 
at  other  places,  holding  the  water  back  of  it.  until  its 
level  becomes  high  enough  to  flow  over  the  obstruction, 
when  it  oozes  down  the  regular  slope  and  is  discharged ; 
or  as  at  B,  the  water  after  passing  through  the  soil  is 
held  below  by  the  clay  basin  in  quantities  sufficient  to 
make  the  soil  at  D  unfit  for  profitable  cultivation. 
Such  is  the  case  at  C.  We  do  not  wish  it  understood 
that  sub-soil  clay  is  impervious  to  water.  It  is  only 
comparatively  so.  The  soil  is  so  susceptible  to  the 
passage  of  water  that  the  difference  is  all  the  more 
marked.  As  seen  before,  the  retentive  power  of  soils 
varies  greatly.  Understanding  these  natural  difficul- 
ties, we  can  arrange  our  drainage  with  reference  to 


8  PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 

overcoming  them.  These  things  are  mentioned,  not 
with  the  intention  of  covering  all  cases,  but  to  suggest 
to  the  thinking  and  investigating  agriculturist  some- 
thing of  what  he  should  take  into  consideration  when 
he  undertakes  to  drain  wet  land. 

KINDS  OF  DRAINS. 

Many  experiments  have  been  made  to  find  some  in- 
expensive material  for,  and  method  of  constructing, 
drains.  None  have  stood  the  test  of  time  but  open 
ditches  for  surface  drains,  and  tile  pipes  for  under 
drains.  If  the  western  farmer  wishes  permanent  and 
effective  drainage,  he  must  be  at  the  expense  of  con- 
structing suitable  open  ditches  for  large  water-courses, 
and  well  laid  lines  of  tile  drains  for  general  draining 
purposes.  Drains  constructed  of  boards,  brush,  gravel, 
etc.,  are  less  effectual  and  in  the  long  run  more  expen- 
sive. 

OPEN  DRAINS. 

However  much  open  ditches  may  be  disliked,  they 
are  often  a  necessity.  The  farmer  who  has  experienced 
the  convenience  and  profit  of  under-drains  conceives 
the  idea  of  doing  away  with  all  open  ditches  by  using 
tiles  and  covering  them,  thus  saving  all  inconvenience 
occasioned  by  the  ditch,  and  also  adding  to  his  tillable 
land  that  occupied  as  a  water-course.  This  operation 
will  often  retard  the  action  of  drains  which  discharge 
into  the  large  channel,  and  if  the  slough  is  large  will 
wholly  prevent  good  drainage.  As  noticed  before, 
sloughs  on  the  prairies  are  the  natural  water-courses, 
give  surface  drainage  to  large  tracts  of  land  either  side 
of  them,  and  during  seasons  of  heavy  rain  require  large 
capacity  in  order  to  remove  the  water  coming  to  them. 
In  many  cases  a  pipe  eleven  or  t'.velve  inches  in  di- 


RELATION   OF   DRAINAGE   TO   SOIL§. 

ameter  would  do  the  work,  but  these  are  at  present  ex- 
ceedingly expensive  and  can  not  often  be  used  by  in- 
dividual farmers  because  of  the  expense. 

Again,  sloughs  flowing  through  tracts  of  land  which 
are  flat  and  require  under-draining  more  than  any 
other,  themselves  have  but  little  grade,  so  that'  very- 
large  pipes  would  be  required  to  give  the  necessary- 
discharge. 

If  all  our  land  were  well  under-drained,  thus  pre- 
venting any  accumulation  of  water  in  flat  and  low 
places  in  the  bordering  fields,  or  surface  flooding,  the 
case  under  consideration  would  be  radically  changed. 
The  water,  instead  of  requiring  immediate  removal  as 
fast  as  it  gathers  upon  the  surface,  would  be  taken  up 
by  a  soil  well  drained  to  a  depth  of  three  or  four  feet 
and  carried  off  by  the  pipes  laid  for  that  purpose.. 
This  drained  soil  is  capable  of  holding  a  large  quantity 
of  wrater  before  the  surface  is  covered,  and  the  drains 
carry  it  off  gradually.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  main 
drain  will  not  be  called  upon  to  carry  as  great  a  quan- 
tity of  water  as  it  would  in  case  it  were  not  supple- 
mented by  under-draining.  In  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  open  ditches  must  be  used  in  all  large  sloughs 
where  draining  is  no  more  thorough  than  is  usually 
practiced,  except  about  one  mile  at  the  head  of  the 
slough. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  fall  of  the  slough,, 
the  area  drained  by  it,  and  the  nature  of  the  soil,  greatly 
affect  all  our  calculations  and  consequent  practice  in 
draining.  The  statements  above  made  are  perhaps  as 
definite  as  can  be  given,  and  apply  to  all  cases. 

In  the  drainage  of  large  districts  this  is  the  first 
matter  to  be  attended  to.  A  suitable  water-course 


10 


PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 


must  be  provided,  into  which  all  lesser  drains  may  be 
discharged. 

A  ditch  which  is  to  be  a  water-course  in  ordinarily 
large  sloughs,  should  be  of  greater  dimensions  than  a 
cow-path,  furrow  or  spade  ditch.  A  narrow  ditch, 
even  if  deep  enough,  will  soon  wash  at  the  sides,  caus- 
ing sods  and  earth  to  fall  in.  These,  with  the  growth 
of  grass,  will  soon  obstruct  the  ditch  to  such  a  degree 
that  it  will  be  worthless,  unless  the  water  flows  rapidly 
enough  to  wash  out  all  matter,  or  it  is  cleaned  by  hand- 
work. Besides  this  it  will  hold  so  little  water  that  in 
every  little  freshet  the  land  on  each  side  will  be  flooded 
;and  injury  done. 


Fig.  5.— Proper  Form  for  Open  Ditch. 

Figure  5  gives  the  cross-section  of  a  ditch  which 
•will  stand  at  the  sides  and  can  be  easily  kept  clean. 
The  ditch  is  twelve  feet  wide  at  the  top  and  three  feet 
•deep.  The  sides  slope  2  to  1,  that  is,  one-half  the 
width  at  the  top  is  twice  the  depth.  The  earth  should 
be  taken  3  feet  from  the  edge  of  the  ditch,  and  should 
be  smoothed  and  seeded  to  grass.  A  border  of  10  feet 
should  remain  in  grass.  This  will  require  two  rods 
<of  land  for  the  ditch,  giving  firm  land  for  the  banks. 
Such  a  ditch  can  be  kept  clear  of  weeds  and  long  grass 
by  mowing  with  a  machine  and  burning  the  weeds  in 
the  bottom  of  the  ditch.  In  making  the  ditch  short 
turns  should  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible,  as  these 
.retard  the  flow,  and  occasion  washing  away  on  one  side 


RELATION   OF   DRAINAGE  TO   SOILS.  11 

of  the  ditch  at  the  turn.  The  grade  may  be,  in  almost 
.all  cases,  uniform  with  the  slope  of  the  surface,  as  usu- 
ally the  inequalities  are  very  slight  in  prairie  sloughs. 
The  magnitude  and  expense  of  a  ditch  of  this  de- 
scription at  first  often  induces  the  farmer  to  substitute 
some  more  easily  constructed  one,  and  thus  cripple  his 
whole  system  of  drainage.  After  a  few  years  of  trial 
he  will  have  reason  to  regret  his  half-way  work,  and 
will  take  measures  to  correct  it.  When  taken  at  a 
dry  season  of  the  year,  the  ditch 
may  be  excavated  quite  rapidl^^vjW^Eerj 
road-plow  and  scraper.  ([U K  I  V  E  R  S I  T  Y 

TILE  Dl 

The  good  effects  of  drainage  previously  mentioned 
-can  not  be  brought  about  by  a  system  of  open  drains, 
only  as  such  a  system  is  constructed  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  sufficient  outlets  for  under-drains.  In  ob- 
serving the  process  of  natural  drainage  as  shown  in 
fig.  4,  we  see  that  such  drainage  is  very  slow,  since  it 
depends  upon  the  natftre  of  the  soil  and  the  relation 
of  the  contour  of  the  sub-soil  to  the  surface.  Open 
drains  are  simply  an  aid  to  natural  drainage,  acting 
principally  upon  the  upper  six  or  eight  inches  of  soil. 
Deeper  than  this,  the  soil,  during  the  spring-time,  is 
tough  and  compact,  scarcely  allowing  the  plowshare  to 
cut  and  turn  it  to  the  surface,  because  of  its  adhesive 
nature.  At  the  same  time,  a  few  inches  of  the  surface 
soil  which  has  been  surface-drained  and  acted  upon  by 
the  sun  and  air,  will  be  friable.  Later  in  the  summer, 
if  the  season  is  dry,  the  lower  soil  will  be  found  par- 
tially dry,  but  generally  it  never  becomes  well  drained 
except  at  the  surface.  We  must  have  ditches,  but  they 
should  be  regarded  only  as  necessary  accessories  to 


12  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

under-drains,  if  we  wish  to  realize  their  full  benefit. 
A  tile-drain,  in  order  to  accomplish  its  purpose  per- 
fectly, should  possess  the  following  requisites  : 

It  should  consist  of  pipes  of  sufficient  size,  laid  at 
proper  depths,  to  carry  away  all  water  which  may  come 
to  them. 

Each  line  should  have  a  perfectly  free  outlet. 

The  pipes  should  have  sufficient  space  between  them 
at  the  ends  to  permit  water  to  enter. 

Each  separate  line  should  be  laid  on  an  incline,  or 
series  of  inclines,  of  regular  grade. 

The  tiles  should  be  of  good  material  and  well-burned, 
in  order  to  be  a  permanent  improvement. 


ACTION   OF   DRAINS  UPON   THE  SOIL.  '  13 


CHAPTER  II. 

ACTION  OF  DRAINS  UPON  THE  SOIL. 

How  Tile  Drains  Affect  the  Soil — Temperature — Chemical  Change 
— Drought— Questions  to  be  Considered  Before  Commencing  to 

Drain. 

HOW  WATER  ENTERS  A  TILE  DRAIN. 

A  correct  understanding  of  this  will  help  us  to  de- 
termine the  best  way  to  make  the  joints,  and  also  to 
locate  the  lines  as  regards  their  distance  apart.  The 
tiles  should  have  their  ends  joined  as  closely  as  the 
inequalities  arising  from  moulding  and  burning  will 
admit  of.  When  this  is  done  there  will  yet  remain 
sufficient  space  for  the  water  to  pass  in  or  out,  but 
not  enough  to  admit  soil,  except  in  the  form  of  very 
fine  silt.  At  the  bottom  of  the  drain  and  nearly 
on  a  level  with  either  side  of  it,  the  earth  is  saturated 
with  water,  that  is,  it  can  hold  no  more.  The  plane 
forming  the  upper  surface  of  this  saturated  earth  is 
called  the  water-table.  Figure  6  shows  a  cross-section 
of  a  drain,  the  curved  line  AB  representing  the  water- 
table,  or  line  of  saturation,  the  darker  part  of  the  figure 
repesenting  the  saturated  earth,  and  the  lighter  portion 
above  the  water-table  the  drained  soil.  When  rain 
falls  upon  the  surface  it  descends  directly  downward 
by  the  force  of  gravity.  When  all  the  particles  of  the 
drained  soil  contain  all  they  will  hold  by  absorption, 
the  water  passes  down  until  it  reaches  the  saturated 
soil,  when,  as  it  can  go  no  further,  it  saturates  the 
lower  portion  of  the  drained  soil,  thus  causing  the 
water-table  to  change  its  place  and  rise  higher.  As 
the  water-table  rises,  the  water  rises  through  the  joints 


14 


PKACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 


of  the  tiles,  and  they  being  inclined,  a  flow  begins  and 
continues  until  the  water-table  recedes  to  the  floor  of 
the  drain,  when  the  flow  ceases.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  water-table  will  vary  in  height  with  the  quantity 
of  drainage  water  in  the  soil.  When  the  water-table 
rises  to  the  top  of  the  drain,  the  tile  will  discharge  a 
stream  as  large  as  its  caliber.  If  the  water-table  rises 
higher  than  this,  additional  head  is  given  and  the  ve- 

locity  of  flow  is 
increased,  but  the 
depth  of  drained 
soil  is  decreased. 


The  fact  that  the 
tiles  are  porous- 
does  not  increase 
the  flow  nor  add 
to  their  draining 
properties.  They  would  be  as  suitable  for  draining 
purposes  if  made  of  glass,  or  of  glazed  ware,  as  when 
made  of  porous  clay,  for  they  will  be  taxed  to  their 
full  capacity  by  water  flowing  into  the  joints.  The 
water-table  does  not  extend  on  a  level  indefinitely 
either  side  of  the  drain,  but  rises  as  it  recedes,  the  angle 
of  rise  varying  with  the  nature  of  the  soil.  This  fact 
will  be  alluded  to  again  in  the  discussion  of  the  dis- 
tance apart  of  the  drains. 

HOW  TILE  DRAINS  AFFECT  THE  SOIL. 

Depth  of  Soil. — From  what  has  been  said  before,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  depth  of  the  soil  is  increased  by 
the  action  of  tile-drains,  since,  were  it  not  for  the  pres- 
ence of  the  drain,  when  the  water-table  rises  high,  thus 
decreasing  the  depth  of  drained  soil,  it  would  remain 
so  until  the  surplus  water  was  carried  off  by  slow  nat- 


ACTION   OF   DRAINS   UPON   THE   SOIL. 

ural  drainage,  in  place  of  rapidly,  as  by  the  drain.  All 
the  soil  acted  upon  by  the  drain  is  made  similar  to- 
that  at  the  surface.  Air  takes  the  place  of  the  surplus 
water,  so  that  a  chemical  action  is  begun.  The  inert 
soil  matter  is  slowly  changed  into  plant  food,  making 
the  whole  depth  of  drained  soil  the  natural  home  for 
the  roots  of  plants.  It  is  often  thought  that  the  roots; 
of  farm  plants  penetrate  but  a  few  inches  into  the  soil,, 
and  that  if  the  surface  is  dry,  rich  and  porous  to  a; 
depth  of  ten  inches,  the  plants  have  sufficient  room 
for  growth.  Professor  W.  O.  Atwater,  in  the  Amer- 
ican Agriculturist,  gives  the  following  on  the  "Extent 
and  Depth  of  Roots  "  : 

"I  have  often  been  interested  in  noting  the  ideas; 
most  people  have  as  to  how  far  and  how  deep  the  roots 
of  plants  extend.  The  majority  guess  roots  of  grass 
and  clover  penetrate  between  five  and  ten  inches,  and 
are  surprised  to  find  that  they  reach  several  feet.  I 
have  some  roots  of  timothy,  clover,  and  other  plants, 
dug  from  a  very  heavy  clay  soil,  a  good  quality  of 
brick  clay,  so  compact  and  hard  that  a  sharp  knife,  in 
cutting  it,  leaves  a  surface  as  smooth  and  shiny  as  it 
would  cut  on  the  end  of  a  pine  board.  I  have  traced 
the  roots  of  the  timothy  to  a  depth  of  two  feet  and 
four  inches,  and  the  clover  three  feet  and  two  inches. 
A  number  of  years  ago  a  very  intelligent  German 
farmer  named  Schubart,  made  some  very  interesting 
observations  upon  the  roots  of  plants  as  they  grow  in 
the  field.  An  excavation  five  or  six  feet  deep  or  more, 
was  dug  in  the  soil  so  as  to  leave  a  vertical  wall. 
Against  this  wall  a  jet  of  water  was  played  by  means 
of  a  garden  sprinkler ;  the  earth  was  washed  away, 
and  the  roots  of  the  plants  growing  therein  laid  bare. 
The  roots  thus  exposed  in  a  field  of  rye,  in  one  of 


16  PKACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

•beans,  and  in  a  bed  of  garden  peas,  presented  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  mat  or  felt  of  white  fibers,  extending  to 
a  depth  of  about  four  feet. 

"  Roots  of  wheat  sown  September  26,  and  uncovered 
-the  26th  of  April,  had  penetrated  three  and  a  half  feet, 
and  six  weeks  later  about  four  feet,  below  the  surface. 
In  one  case,  in  a  light  subsoil,  wheat  roots  were  found 
as  deep  as  seven  feet.  The  roots  of  the  wheat  in  April 
^constituted  forty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  plant.  Hon. 
John  Stanton  Gould,  I  believe  it  is,  says  that  he  '  has 
seen  the  roots  of  Indian  corn  extending  seven  feet 
downward/  and  Prof.  Johnson  states  that  'the  roots 
of  maize,  which  in  a  rich  and  tenacious  earth  extend 
but  two  or  three  feet,  have  been  traced  to  a  length  of 
ten  or  even  fifteen  feet  in  a  light,  sandy  soil.7  Roots 
of  clover,  when  growing  in  a  rich,  mellow  soil,  extend 
far,  both  laterally  and  vertically.  Prof.  Stockbridge 
'washed  out  a  root  of  common  clover,  one  year  old, 
growing  in  the  alluvial  soil  near  the  Connecticut  river, 
and  found  that  it  descended  perpendicularly  to  the 
.depth  of  eight  feet.'  Lucern  roots  are  stated  to  reach 
a  depth  of  twenty  and  even  thirty  feet.  Alderman 
Mechi,  in  England,  tells  of  a  neighbor  who  '  dug  a 
^parsnip,  which  measured  thirteen  feet  six  inches  in 
length,  but  was  unfortunately  broken  at  that  depth.7  r> 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  that  maximum  crops  can  not 
be  expected  until  the  soil  is  made  light  and  porous  to 
a  sufficient  depth  to  give  the  plant  abundant  nourish- 
ment. In  prairie  soil  the  depth  which  is  so  desirable 
can  be  obtained  in  no  other  way  than  by  under-drain- 
ing. 

Temperature. — A  warm  soil  is  another  eifect  of  un- 
der-draining. When  the  soil  becomes  saturated  and 
no  means  are  provided  for  the  removal  of  the  water 


ACTION   OF   DRAINS  UPON   THE   SOIL.  17 

except  by  evaporation,  no  heat  is  absorbed  by  the  soil 
until  the  water  at  the  surface  has  been  changed  to  va- 
por. In  the  summer  the  air  is  very  much  cooled  by  a 
shower  of  rain,  because  a  certain  amount  of  heat  is 
required  from  the  air  and  earth  to  convert  a  portion 
of  the  rainfall  into  vapor.  The  same  change  is  neces- 
sary when  the  soil  is  saturated.  If  the  rainfall  is  fre- 
quent but  very  little  soil  is  warmed,  all  the  heat  of  the 
sun  being  required  to  change  the  water  at  and  near  the 
surface  into  vapor.  If  this  is  true  of  the  surface  it  is 
doubly  true  of  soil  several  inches  below  the  surface, 
for  the  water  at  the  surface  must  be  evaporated  and 
the  temperature  of  the  soil  raised  before  any  warming 
process  can  go  on  in  the  lower  portions  of  the  soil. 
A  drained  soil  has  been  found  to  be  from  six  to  ten 
degrees  warmer  at  seven  inches  below  the  surface  than 
an  undrained  soil  at  the  same  depth.  This  difference 
in  the  soil  often  gives  the  farmer  a  season  which  is 
from  two  to  four  weeks  longer,  besides  giving  quick 
and  increased  growth  to  plants. 

Chemical  Change. — Heat  is  an  important  chemical 
agent.  When  permitted  to  enter  the  soil  with  air, 
important  changes  are  made.  Vegetable  matter,  hith- 
erto inert,  becomes  further  decomposed  and  mingled 
with  mineral  matter,  thus  making  the  lower  soil  simi- 
lar to  that  at  the  surface.  Again,  the  ammonia  fur- 
nished us  by  the  rain  is  held  in  a  drained  soil  and  aids 
in  this  chemical  work.  In  order  to  see  that  such 
changes  are  made,  let  a  portion  of  clay  or  hard-pan  be 
taken  from  a  depth  of  three  or  four  feet  and  exposed 
to  the  atmosphere.  Instead  of  remaining  compact  and 
solid,  it  will  gradually  crumble  and  in  time  will  be- 
come chemically  changed.  The  same  action  goes  on 


18  PRACTICAL   FA£M   DRAINAGE. 

when  the  earth  is  in  place  and  the  air  is  allowed  to 
find  its  way  to  it,  which  it  can  not  do  until  the  surplus 
water  is  removed. 

Drought. — It  is  often  asked  "  If  draining  makes  a 
soil  dry  in  a  wet  year  will  it  not  make  it  too  dry  in  a 
dry  time  ?"  It  has  already  been  shown  that  a  drained 
soil  holds  a  large  quantity  of  moisture  by  absorption. 
The  soil  being  very  much  deepened,  the  roots  of  plants 
have  access  to  the  moisture  contained  in  a  much  larger 
mass  of  soil  than  when  undrained.  Again,  a  soil  is 
filled  with  capillary*  tubes,  which  carry  moisture  to 
the  surface,  where  it  is  quickly  converted  into  vapor. 
If  the  surface  is  mellow  and  the  whole  depth  of  soil 
loose,  the  tubes  are  much  larger,  so  that  water  is  con- 
veyed to  the  surface  in  much  less  quantities.  Conse- 
quently, less  moisture  is  lost  by  evaporation.  Still 
further,  in  dry  times  the  soil  below  the  surface  is  much 
cooler  than  the  air,  hence,  when  air  containing  vapor 
is  brought  in  contact  with  it,  the  vapor  is  condensed 
into  water  and  absorbed  by  the  particles  of  soil.  In 
an  undrained  soil  the  surface  is  made  compact  by  stand- 
ing water,  is  baked  by  the  sun  when  the  water  is 
evaporated,  is  compact  below,  giving  little  depth  of 
soil  for  the  plants.  Moisture  evaporates  rapidly  through 
the  hard  surface,  and  roots,  having  a  comparatively 

A 

*  The  force  called  capillary  attraction  is  of  great  importance  to  the  culti- 
vator of  the  soil.  It  is  so  called  from  the  fact  that  it  is  most  noticeable  in 
very  small  tubes,  called  capillary  tubes.  It  is  the  attraction  which  exists  be- 
tween a  liquid  and  a  solid  when  brought  into  contact.  When  small  tubes 
are  placed  in  water  the  liquid  rises  in  them  higher  than  the  surface  of  the 
water,  rising  highest  in  the  smallest  tube  and  varying  in  height  inversely  as 
the  diameters  of  the  tubes.  The  soil  contains  an  endless  number  of  capillary 
tubes  which  communicate  with  each  other.  In  hard  and  compact  soils  these 
tubes  are  much  smaller  than  in  loose  and  mellow  ones,  and  according  to  the 
law,  moisture  is  conveyed  to  the  surface,  where  it  is  evaporated.  If  the  sur- 
face be  broken  up  by  any  means  the  capillary  tubes  are  made  larger  to  such 
an  extent  that  but  little  moisture  is  conveyed  by  them  to  the  surface  to  be 
evaporated. 


ACTION    OF   DRAINS   UPON   THE   SOIL.  19 

small  range,  soon  feel  the  ill  effects  of  dry  weather. 
Some  soils  are  naturally  very  rich  and  porous,  pro- 
ducing good  crops  when  the  spring  rains  are  light 
enough  to  allow  the  soil  to  be  worked,  but  it  has  been 
found  that  such  soil  produces  much  larger  crops  even 
in  dry  times  when  well  drained.  In  short,  thorough 
under-draining  has  been  found  to  be  a  most  efficient- 
preventive  of  drought.  It  also  makes  better  tillage 
possible,  which  in  itself  is  a  great  advantage,  and  it 
makes  all  parts  of  the  soil  available  for  the  use  of  use- 
ful crops. 

QUESTIONS  TO  BE  CONSIDERED  BEFORE  COMMENCING  TO  DRAIN. 

There  are  many  farmers  who  have  poor  crops  and 
consequently  find  very  little  profit  in  farming,  not  be- 
cause their  land  suffers  from  an  excess  of  water  in  the 
soil,  but  l%y  reason  of  poor  management  and  poorer 
tillage  of  a  soil  which  is  naturally  well  drained.  It  is 
a  weakness,  particularly  prevalent  among  western  farm- 
ers, to  put  a  little  work  on  a  great  deal  of  land.  The 
farmer  should  understand  the  value  of  labor  upon  the 
joil  before  he  invests  much  capital  in  under-drainage. 
^f  the  land  which  he  has  been  cultivating  has  become 
tilled  with  seeds  of  noxious  plants  until  the  crops  con- 
sist of  half  grain  and  half  weeds,  let  him  turn  his  at- 
tention and  capital  to  more  thorough  cultivation  as  the 
first  thing  to  be  done  in  order  to  make  agriculture 
profitable.  If  his  soil  has  become  "  furrow-trod  "  and 
produces  a  sickly  crop,  let  him  rotate  his  crops,  plow 
in  the  fall,  seed  to  grass  and  pasture  until,  by  the  best 
means  known  to  agriculturists,  the  results  of  his  labor 
show  that  he  has  succeeded.  He  may  cheat  the  soil 
for  a  time  by  poor  cultivation,  but  at  last  the  farmer 
will  suffer  the  full  penalty  for  his  treatment  of  his  most 
profitable  friend. 


20  PRACTICAL    FARM    DRAINAGE. 

The  first  question  that  a  farmer  should  consider  be- 
fore undertaking  drainage,  is  this :  Is  my  land,  which 
is  naturally  drained,  receiving  such  treatment  at  my 
hands  as  to  give  me  maximum  crops?  Draining  is 
expensive,  and  in  order  to  obtain  profitable  returns 
from  the  outlay  he  must  cultivate  in  such  a  way  that 
the  soil  will  bring  him  the  largest  possible  crops.  The 
more  money  there  is  invested  in  the  land  the  greater 
necessity  there  is  for  making  sure  of  a  corresponding 
return.  The  gardener  who  is  to  pay  two  hundred  or 
three  hundred  dollars  an  acre  for  land  near  some  city 
which  will  afford  him  a  good  market  for  his  products, 
should  carefully  take  into  account  whether  the  crops 
which  he  intends  to  raise,  the  amount  of  which  will  de- 
pend upon  his  own  skill,  capital  and  adaptation  of  the 
soil,  and  the  prices  he  can  get  for  them,  will  justify  the 
purchase.  He  very  well  knows  that  with  poor  crops  as 
his  only  source  of  revenue  he  would  soon  be  lost  in 
a  hopeless  labyrinth  of  debt.  It  is  much  the  same 
with  the  farmer  in  draining.  A  careful,  industrious 
farmer  can  drain  his  land  and  realize  a  handsome  re- 
turn from  the  investment.  A  slovenly  man,  who  will 
not  cultivate  well  the  land  which  nature  has  enriched 
and  drained  for  him,  need  not  expect  to  make  draining 

pay- 
Again,  fashion  rules  the  farmer  to  an  extent  wrhich 

he  is  often  unwilling  to  admit.  A  new  implement  has 
its  run  in  a  neighborhood  as  surely  as  a  new  pattern  of 
goods  among  ladies  of  society.  If  one  man  builds  a 
convenient  and  showy  barn  many  of  his  neighbors  will 
speedily  follow  suit,  regardless  of  their  means  and 
needs.  If  neighbor  A  drains  a  field  and  thereby  in- 
creases his  crops,  neighbor  B,  seeing  that  he  has  sue- 


ACTION   OF   DRAINS   UPON   THE  SOIL.  21 

ceeded  well,  will  forthwith  begin  draining  one  of  his 
fields.  This  habit  of  imitation  is  not  to  be  discouraged, 
for  it  is  an  important  incentive  to  advancement  in  all 
things.  A  good  example  is  worthy  of  imitation.  But 
in  the  last  case  mentioned  neighbor  A  may  have  given 
the  matter  careful  thought,  and  have  laid -his  plans  with 
so  much  foresight,  and  carried  them  out  with  such 
thoroughness,  that  the  results  are  highly  satisfactory, 
while  B,  seeing  only  the  results,  hastens  to  obtain 
similar  ones  without  the  preparatory  care.  He,  per- 
haps, does  his  work  at  random,  and  finds  the  profits 
much  smaller  than  he  was  led  to  suppose.  Each  man 
should  make  the  case  his  own.  In  connection  with 
what  his  neighbor  has  done  he  should  study  his  own 
soil  and  the  natural  facilities  he  has  for  thorough 
work. 

Another  matter  to  be  seriously  thought  of  is  the  ex- 
pense. Draining,  if  done  thoroughly,  is  expensive  at 
the  outset.  Of  course  a  small  drain  here  and  there  on 
the  farm  does  not  involve  much  outlay.  But  prairie 
farms  are  usually  wet  to  such  an  extent  that  outlets 
must  be  provided  at  considerable  expense,  which,  in 
themselves,  give  no  adequate  return,  and  often  an  en- 
tire system  of  mains  and  sub-mains  must  be  laid  before 
much  profit  can  be  directly  obtained.  A  survey  should 
be  made,  giving  the  elevation  and  distances  of  differ- 
ent portions  of  the  farm  or  field.  From  this  an  ap- 
proximate estimate  of  the  cost  of  a  drain  or  system  of 
drains  can  be  made.  However  much  or  little  is  done 
the  farmer  should  be  prepared  with  the  requisite  knowl- 
edge and  money  to  begin  at  the  right  place  and  do 
thorough  work  as  far  as  he  goes.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  under-draining  is  not  like  building  a  fence, 


22  PEACTICAL   FAEM   DRAINAGE. 

which  may  be  moved  if  it  is  not  in  the  right  place,  or 
which  in  a  few  years  will  rot  down  and  require  re- 
building, but  it  is  a  work  which,  if  well  done,  will 
benefit  the  farm  for  future  generations  as  well  as  the 
present. 


LEVELING  AND   LOCATING   DEAINS.  23 


CHAPTER  III. 

LEVELING  AND  LOCATING  DRAINS. 

The  Outlet — Leveling — Level  Notes — Leveling  Instruments — Lo- 
cation of  Drains— Staking  and  Leveling  for  Drains — Field 
Notes  of  Main  Drain — Computing  Grade  and  Depth — Deter- 
mining and  Adjusting  Grades. 

THE  OUTLET. 

The  first  and  most  important  consideration  in  good 
drainage  is  the  outlet.  We  may  use  tiles  as  large  or 
as  small  as  we  please,  and  lay  them  as  accurately  as  a 
railroad  is  graded,  and  even  go  to  the  expense  of  lo- 
cating the  lines  ten  feet  apart,  and  yet  if  the  outlet  is 
not  free,  the  drainage  will  not  be  successful  in  all  re- 
spects. The  lack  of  good  natural  outlets  is  perhaps 
the  greatest  difficulty  that  the  western  farmers  have  to 
surmount  in  draining  flat  prairie.  To  make  under- 
draining  successful,  he  must  often  deepen  the  water- 
course by  making  open  ditches,  even  larger  and  deeper 
than  the  one  previously  described.  In  order  that  a 
tile  drain  may  discharge  all  the  water  that  it  is  capable 
of  carrying,  the  water  must  flow  away  with  perfect 
freedom. 

It  is  thought  by  many  that  some  contrivance  may 
be  used  by  which  the  force  of  gravity  may  be  circum- 
vented, and  the  drain  made  to  discharge  its  water,  not- 
withstanding a  faulty  outlet.  A  box  or  barrel  is  sunk 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  drain,  and  the  water  made  to 
rise  twenty  or  thirty  inches  and  then  flow  away  through 
a  shallow  open  ditch.  The  effect  of  this  is  shown  in 


24 


PRACTICAL    FARM    DRAINAGE. 


fig.  7.  We  must  remember  that  if  water  will  enter  at 
the  joints  of  the  drain,  it  will  flow  out  into  the  soil 
just  as  readily  if  the  stream  in  the  tile  is  retarded  or 
entirely  stopped.  The  water,  as  shown  in  the  figure, 
flows  through  the  drain  to  its  outlet  A,  where,  being 
held  by  the  sides  of  the  pit  or  box,  the  water  must 
rise  to  the  level  Bb  before  it  can  flow  off.  The  soil 
above  the  drain  becomes  saturated  up  to  the  line  Bb, 
thus  leaving  a  portion  of  land  near  the  outlet  un- 
drained,  or  only  partially  drained,  according  to  the 


Fig. 1  -Faulty  Outlet 

relation  between  the  height  to  which  the  water  must 
rise  and  the  grade  upon  which  the  drain  is  laid.  Nor 
is  this  a  small  waste  of  land,  especially  where  the 
grade  of  the  drain  is  slight.  We  will  suppose  that  the 
mouth  of  the  drain  is  three  feet  below  the  surface,  that 
the  water  must  rise  twenty-four  inches  before  it  can 
flow  off,  and  that  the  grade  of  the  drain  is  four  inches 
in  one  hundred  feet.  The  drain  will  now  back  water 
for  six  hundred  feet,  and  will  greatly  injure  the  land 
for  a  distance  of  three  hundred  feet  above  the  outlet. 
When  the  grade  of  the  drain  is  great  near  the  outlet, 
the  damage  is  not  so  serious.  When  the  soil  above 
the  drain  becomes  saturated  from  any  cause,  as  in  the 
case  of  an  obstructed  outlet,  the  combined  weight  of 


LEVELING   AND    LOCATING   DRAINS.  2<> 

soil  and  water  above  the  drain  causes  the  tile  to  act 
like  a  continuous  iron  pipe,  the  head  of  water  above 
forcing  the  water  through  the  pipe  to  a  proportionate 
height  at  the  outlet.  This,  however,  is  not  drainage., 
The  drain  must  have  a  free  outlet,  and  the  tiles  should 
never  be  quite  full  in  order  to  give  perfect  drainage  to 
all  of  the  soil  through  which  the  drain  runs.  The 
proper  construction  of  the  outlet  will  be  taken  up  un- 
der the  subject  "Location  and  Construction  of  Drains.'* 

LEVELING. 

Unless  inaccurate  and  in  the  end  costly  guess-work 
is  depended  upon  in  draining,  we  must  use  some  accu- 
rate method  of  obtaining  the  difference  of  elevation  of 
various  points  on  the  farm  or  field  upon  which  we  wish 
to  operate.  Leveling  can  be  done  in  various  ways, 
but  in  whatever  way  it  is  done  the  principle  remains 
the  same.  We  first  secure  a  horizontal  line  of  sight, 
and,  having  a  rod  graduated  to  feet  and  fractions  of  a 
foot,  we  hold  the  rod  upon  the  point  whose  elevation 
we  wish  to  determine,  and  find  at  what  mark  the  hor- 
izontal line  intersects  the  rod.  This  is  called  a  rod- 
reading.  The  rod  is  then  moved  to  another  point  and 
a  reading  is  again  taken.  The  difference  of  the  read- 
ings is  the  difference  of  elevation  of  the  two  points 
upon  which  the  rod  was  placed.  If  we  wish  to  take  a 
system  of  levels,  that  is,  find  how  much  higher  or  lower 
different  points  are  than  the  starting  point,  the  process- 
becomes  more  complicated,  for  the  reason  that  the  in- 
strument must  be  moved  and  the  levels  all  referred  ta 
the  same  datum.  The  following  method  of  operating 
and  keeping  the  notes  is  general,  and  will  apply  to 
whatever  kind  of  instrument  is  used  to  obtain  the  hor- 
izontal line. 


PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 


For  convenience  in  leveling  for  drainage  purposes, 
we  begin  at  the  place  which  we  consider  the  lowest 
point  upon  the  farm  or  field,  and  make  a  preliminary 
level  survey  in  order  to  find  the  elevation  of  the  lowest 

portions  of  land  requiring 
drainage,  and  the  distance 
of  such  places  from  the  com- 
mon outlet.  We  assume  the 
starting  or  outlet  point  at 
the  surface  of  the  ground  to 
be  100  feet  above  an  imag- 
inary plane  below  called 
the  datum  plane  or  datum. 
Place  the  instrument  at 
<?  some  convenient  distance 
I  from  this  point  (the  distance 
^  will  depend  upon  the  power 
P~>  and  accuracy  of  the  instru- 
ment), take  a  reading  at 
the  point  A,  Fig.  8,  which 
we  will  assume  for  illustra- 
tion to  be  four  feet;  add 
this  to  the  assumed  eleva- 
tion of  A,  and  we  have  104 
feet,  which  is  the  height  of 
the  line  of  sight  or  of 
the  instrument  above  da- 
tum. Now  take  the  rod  to  B  and  take  a  reading 
which  we  will  assume  to  be  two  feet.  Subtract  this 
reading  from  the  height  of  the  instrument  and  we 
have  102  as  the  elevation  of  the  point  B.  Change 
the  instrument  to  some  place  beyond  B,  as  at  C. 
'Take  another  reading  at  B,  called  a  backsight,  or 
commonly  a  plus  sight,  which  we  will  suppose  is 


LEVELING   AND   LOCATING   DRAINS.  27 

1.5  feet.  Add  this  to  the  elevation  of  B  for  the 
height  of  the  instrument  in  its  new  position,  which  is 
103.5  feet.  Take  a  reading  at  C,  which  is  one  foot. 
Let  these  operations  be  repeated  until  the  elevation  of 
all  points  desired  is  found.  Observe  that  at  every 
change  of  the  instrument  a  back-sight  must  always  be 
taken  upon  the  last  point  at  which  a  reading  was  taken, 
and  its  reading  added  to  the  elevation  of  that  point 
for  a  new  height  of  the  instrument.  Also  subtract 
every  fore-sight  reading  from  the  height  of  the  instru- 
ment, to  obtain  the  elevation  of  that  point.  The  notes 
should  be  kept  as  indicated  below : 

LEVEL  NOTES. 

Back-sight    Height  of  Fore-sight    Eleva- 
Stations.  Distance,     or  sight,  instrument,    or  sight.       tion. 

A 4.00        104.00        100.00 

B 400ft.        1.50        103.50        2.00        102.00 

€ 500ft.        3.00        105.50        1.00        102.50 

D 525ft.        3.00        107.50        1.00        104.50 

E 375ft 0.90        106.60 

NOTE. — The  datum  height  100  is  used  to  avoid  minus  quantities. 
If  the  elevation  of  some  point  should  be  98,  it  would  indicate  that 
such  a  point  is  two  feet  lower  than  the  starting  point. 

The  distance  between  the  points  should  be  measured 
and  recorded  in  the  notes.  A  rude  sketch  of  the  lines 
and  stations  may  be  made.  From  this  preliminary 
survey  the  farmer  can  ascertain  what  fall  he  has  in 
given  distances,  and  how  he  had  best  lay  out  his  drains. 
In  short,  he  can  tell  what  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do. 

LEVELING  INSTRUMENTS. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  leveling  instruments  within 
reach  of  the  farmer.  Perhaps  the  ordinary  water  level 
Is  as  easily  made  and  as  efficient  as  any.  This  may  be 
made  in  the  following  manner :  Get  the  tinner  to  make 


28  PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 

a  tin  tube  one  inch  in  diameter  and  four  feet  long-, 
turned  up  at  the  ends  two  or  three  inches,  as  shown  in 
fig.  9.  Insert  in  either  end  phials  one-half  inch  in 
diameter,  and  long  enough  to  allow  about  two  inches 
above  the  tin,  having  previously  knocked  out  the  bot- 
toms, that  there  may  be  free  communication  between 
them.  The  phials  may  be  fastened  in  place  by  plaster 
of  paris.  Clamp  the  tube  securely  to  a  block  of  wood 
and  place  it  upon  a  tripod,  so  that  it  may  turn  readily 
upon  a  pivot.  The  legs  of  the  tripod  may  be  hinged 
upon  the  head.  This  will  add  to  its  convenience.  To 
use  it,  pour  water  in  the  tube  until  it  is  nearly  filled, 
and  adjust  the  tube  so  that  the  water  may  be  easily 
seen  in  the  glasses.  The  water  having  been  previously 
colored  by  carmine,  the  height  of  water  in  the  two 
phials  will  form  a  level  or  horizontal  line.  The  eye 
should  be  placed  at  a  distance  of  three  feet  from  the 
tube,  and  raised  or  lowered  until  the  line  of  sight  pro- 
longed will  coincide  with  the  height  of  the  water  in 
the  tubes.  An  assistant  should  move  the  target  upon 
the  rod  until  a  signal  from  the  one  at  the  level  indi- 
cates that  the  target  marks  the  intersection  of  the  level 
line  with  the  rod.  A  good  eye-sighting  along  this 
line  can,  with  considerable  care,  obtain  very  good  re- 
sults. This  is  a  slow  method  for  long  distances,  for 
the  eye  can  not  prolong  the  line  indicated  by  the  water 
in  the  phials  to  any  great  distance.  When  the  level  is 
to  be  moved,  the  phials  may  be  corked  until  it  is 
nearly  adjusted  again,  when  the  corks  should  be  re- 
moved. 

A  carpenter's  level  having  sights  upon  it,  and  made 
to  turn  upon  a  pivot  on  a  tripod,  is  another  kind  of 
level  with  which  fair  work  may  be  done.  Whenever 
a  spirit  level  is  used,  it  should  be  examined  to  see  if  it 


LEVELING   AND   LOCATING   DRAINS.  29 

is  in  adjustment.  If  not,  correct  work  can  not  be  ex- 
pected to  be  done.  The  advantage  which  the  water 
level  has,  over  the  spirit  level  is  that  the  water  always 
indicates  a  horizontal  line,  while  the  spirit  level  may 
be  out  of  adjustment  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  unreli- 
able. The  sights  put  upon  the  spirit  level  require  ac- 
curate construction,  or  they  will  not  give  correct  re- 
sults. Either  level  accurately  constructed  is  reliable 
in  itself,  but  it  will  be  seen  that  the  former  is  more 
•easily  made  so  than  the  latter.  Whichever  instrument 


THE  COMSTOCK  LEVEL. 

is  used,  no  little  care  is  required  on  the  part  of  the 
beginner  if  he  wishes  correct  work.  He  should  first 
see  how  correctly  his  instrument  will  work,  by  finding 
the  elevation  of  the  same  point  from  different  positions 
of  his  instrument.  If  the  results  disagree  to  any  ex- 
tent, he  should  try  to  find  whether  the  error  is  in  his 
work  or  in  his  instrument. 

It  is  often  the  case  that  the  water  level  is  not  expe- 
ditious enough  in  its  work,  and  the  engineer's  level  is 
too  complicated  and  high-priced  for  the  farmer.  To 
meet  this  want  the  Comstock  Level,  shown  in  the  above 
figure,  seems  well  adapted.  It  is  manufactured  by 


30  PRACTICAL    FARM    DRAINAGE. 

William  T.  Comstock,  6  Astor  Place,  New  York, 
The  instrument  is  made  of  brass,  lacquered  so  that  it 
will  not  tarnish.  It  consists  of  a  sighting  tube  A  A, 
fourteen  inches  long,  having  a  pin-hole  through  one 
end,  through  which  to  sight,  and  adjustable  cross-wires 
at  the  other.  The  tube  is  mounted  upon  Ys  Y  Y',  and 
can  be  taken  out  and  reversed  upon  them  for  adjust- 
ment. The  Ys  are  mounted  upon  a  circle,  which 
moves  within  another  circle,  as  shown  at  C  C'.  The 
inner  circle  contains  the  level  bulb,  which  can  also  be 
adjusted  by  a  small  screw  beneath  the  plate.  One 
quadrant  of  the  outer  circle  is  graduated  to  single  de- 
grees, and  the  inner  one  marked  at  intervals  of  45°,  so 
that  it  may  be  used  in  laying  off  angles  for  buildings 
and  other  similar  work.  The  instrument  is  leveled  up 
by  means  of  the  thumb-screws  S  S,  which  rest  upon 
the  tripod-head  B.  A  plumb-bob  with  its  line  pass- 
ing through  the  center  of  the  instrument,  permits  its 
center  to  be  set  over  any  desired  point.  The  instru- 
ment mounted  and  in  adjustment  is  thus  made  very 
convenient  and  well  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which 
it  is  made.  The  level  can  be  turned  to  any  point  of 
the  compass,  and  its  parts  are  all  arranged  for  adjust- 
ment. 

The  engineer's  spirit-level  is  the  most  accurate  in- 
strument, and  the  one  with  which  the  most  rapid  work 
can  be  done.  The  farmer,  by  giving  considerable  study 
to  the  subject  of  leveling,  and  using  a  great  deal  of 
care,  with  common  instruments  can  do  work  that  will 
be  sufficiently  accurate  for  ordinary  farm  drainage,  but 
he  will  find  it,  as  a  general  thing,  to  be  a  matter  of 
economy  to  employ  a  surveyor  with  accurate  instru- 
ments, whose  experience  and  reputation  in  their  use 
will  be  a  guarantee  for  correct  results. 


LEVELING   AND    LOCATING    DRAINS.  31 

LOCATION  OF  DRAINS. 

Mams. — Having  found  the  difference  of  elevation 
of  various  portions  of  the  land  to  be  drained,  we  are 
prepared  to  fix  upon  the  lines  for  the  main  drains. 
This  is  a  work  which,  in  many  places,  gives  opportu- 
nity for  the  exercise  of  much  skill  in  the  use  of  knowl- 
edge pertaining  to  drainage.  It  will  be  assumed  that 
sufficient  level-notes  have  been  taken,  and  distances 
measured,  to  determine  the  fall  per  100  feet  between, 
the  particular  spot  to  be  drained  and  its  nearest  outlet, 
or,  if  the  land  is  nearly  flat,  the  amount  of  slope  it  has 
in  any  direction. 

The  first  knowledge  that  the  farmer  should  avail 
himself  of  is,  that  which  he  can  obtain  by  observation 
in  the  spring  of  the  year,  when  the  soil  is  saturated 
with  water.  At  such  times  water  will  be  found  stand- 
ing above  the  surface  in  hollows  or  basins  in  the  land, 
and  also  on  flats  which  seem  as  high  as  the  surround- 
ing surface.  Mark  these  places  and  determine,  if  pos- 
sible, whether  the  water  is  held  by  a  clay  sub-soil,  as 
shown  in  fig.  4,  or  by  the  quantity  of  water  retained 
in  the  soil  at  lower  portions  of  the  field.  In  the  first 
case  the  natural  drainage  will  be  very  slow,  even 
though  the  elevation  be  sufficient ;  while  in  the  latter, 
the  natural  drainage  will  go  on  rapidly  if  the  surplus 
water  is  removed  from  the  lower  portions  of  the  field, 
thereby  giving  the  water  an  outlet  through  the  soil. 
If  the  whole  field  seems  nearly  flat,  see  if  there  are  not 
some  spots  which  are  wetter  than  others,  though  the 
contour  of  the  surface  does  not  indicate  it.  Upon  ex- 
amination it  may  be  found  that  the  cause  of  this  is  with 
the  sub-soil,  as  before  noticed,  or  with  the  soil  itself,  it. 
being  made  up  largely  of  clay  and  more  retentive  of 
water. 


PRACTICAL   FA*RM   DRAINAGE. 


The  bearing  of  these  observations  on  the  location  of 
mains  is  this :  There  are  places,  such  as  have  been 
mentioned,  which  must  be  drained  by  a  system  of 

branch  drains.  The  nearer 
the  mains  can  be  brought  to 
these  the  less  will  be  the  ex- 
pense of  the  branches  and  the 
more  effectual  will  be  their  ac- 
tion. By  these  observations 
the  farmer  has  an  accurate 
method  of  finding  the  lowest 
places  through  which  all  main 
lines  of  drains  should  pass. 
The  variation  in  the  course  of 
ftg.io  the  main  to  suit  particular 

eases  is  often  precluded  by  the  slope  of  the  surface, 
and  also  by  the  extra  expense  a  longer  main  would 
incur. 

The  general  rule  for  the  location  of  mains  is  to  let 
them  follow  the  lowest  land,  or  course  of  natural  drain- 
age. The  surface  then  slopes  towards  the  drain,  mak- 
ing both  natural  and  artificial  drainage  easy.  We 
might  say  here  that  in  all  cases  we  should  try  and  take 
every  advantage  that  nature  has  given  us  in  this  work, 
for  artificial  drainage  is  only  completing  the  work 
which  nature  has  begun. 

There  are  cases  which  require  us  to  make  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule  just  given.  First,  the  drain  should 
be  as  free  from  angles  and  short  turns  as  possible.  In 
other  words,  it  should  be  laid  on  a  straight  line,  or  a 
series  of  straight  lines,  connected  by  long  curves.  A 
few  words  in  explanation  of  the  advantage  of  straight 
lines  and  easy  curves  will  convince  the  reader  of  their 
importance.  There  is  a  certain  number  of  feet  or  inches 


LEVELING   AND   LOCATING   DEAINS. 


33 


of  fall  that  can  be  used  in  a  given  distance.  The 
shorter  we  can  make  that  distance  by  cutting  across 
angles  the  greater  the  fall  per  100  feet  we  can  get,  and 
consequent  greater  velocity  of  flow  and  discharge  of 
the  drain.  When  the  total  fall  is  slight,  as  is  very 
often  the  case  on  land  which  suffers  most  severely  for 
want  of  drainage,  every  thing  that  can  be  done  to  in- 
crease the  velocity  of  flow  is  of  prime  importance. 


Again,  mains  must  be  made  of  larger  tiles  than  any 
other  of  the  lines,  and  so  cost  much  more  per  foot. 
Crooks  in  the  line  increase  its  length  and  consequent 
expense. 

Short  curves  decrease  the  velocity  of  flow,  so  that, 
if  we  wish  to  have  a  uniform  velocity  in  all  parts  of 
the  drain,  the  grade  must  be  increased  at  the  bend,  and 
as  a  consequence,  the  grade  of  the  entire  line  must  be 
lessened. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  many  things  peculiar 
to  each  location  to  be  considered  in  determining  the 
3 


34  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

proper  course  for  mains.  In  making  the  line  shorter 
in  order  to  lessen  the  expense  and  increase  the  fall,  we 
may  by  a  deep  cut,  made  to  avoid  some  turn,  increase 
the  cost  more  than  all  we  save,  or  by  so  doing  we  may 
fail  to  drain  some  land  through  which  the  drain  should 
pass. 

It  is  only  by  carefully  weighing  all  those  things 
which  enter  into  the  expense  and  efficiency  of  the  work 
that  the  farmer  or  drainage  engineer  can  arrive  at  the 
most  desirable  plan. 

It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  small  ponds, 
drained  by  a  single  line  of  tile,  the  drain  should  pass 
entirely  through  the  pond,  and  thence  to  the  outlet, 
instead  of  beginning  at  the  edge  of  the  pond  as  in  the 
case  of  an  open  ditch.  The  reason  for  this  is  evident 
when  we  remember  that  water  from  the  land  on  either 
side  of  the  drain  enters  it  through  the  joints  of  the  tiler 
while  the  land  at  the  end  of  the  drain  is  drained  but 
very  little. 

Sub -mains  and  Branches. — It  is  often  the  case  that  a 
single  line  of  tiles  laid  through  a  flat,  basin  or  hollow 
will  afford  a  sufficient  drainage  for  the  purpose  of  the 
farmer.  When  we  wish  for  the  thorough  drainage  of 
flats,  ponds  or  swamps,  we  must  have  mains  to  give  an 
outlet  for  the  water  when  collected,  and  a  system  of 
sub-mains  and  branches  to  collect  the  water  from  the 
soil  and  discharge  it  into  the  mains.  There  are  dif- 
ferent systems  of  laying  out  branches,  the  value  of 
each  depending  upon  the  area  to  be  drained. 

Figure  10  shows  a  system  commonly  used,  but  as  a 
general  thing  it  is  not  to  be  commended.  It  consists 
of  parallel  branch  drains  discharging  into  the  main, 
often  at  right  angles  to  it.  If  the  main  is  of  proper 
size  it  will  of  itself  drain  the  soil  for  a  distance  of  from 


LEVELING   AND   LOCATING 


If, 

DRAINS. 


35 


\ 


forty  to  fifty  feet  on  either  side.  It  will  be "  seen  that 
the  portion  of  the  branches  between  the  lines  '**  b  and 
c  d  are  then  superfluous,  the  main  alone  being  suffi- 
cient to  drain  that  amount  of  land. 

A  better  system  for  large  areas  is  shown  in  fig.  11. 
Parallel  sub-mains  discharge  into  a  silt  basin,  and 
branches  parallel  to  these  discharged  into  the  sub-mains 
with  but  little  waste  of  drains,  each  drain  acting  upon 
its  own  area  of  soil. 


Fig-.lt 


In  fig.  12  is  shown  an  adaptation  of  both  systems  to 
suit  the  land.  Upon  the  right  is  a  narrow  piece  of  flat 
land,  extending  some  distance  from  the  main,  which 
can  be  drained  most  economically  by  two  parallel 
branches  running  at  a  proper  angle  to  the  main.  At 
the  left  of  the  main  is  a  flat  extending  lengthways  of 
the  main,  but  wider  than  can  be  drained  by  it,  hence  a 
small  branch  is  laid  out  parallel  to  the  main. 

These  examples  are,  perhaps,  sufficient  to  show  the 
way  in  which  branch  drains  are  to  be  adapted  to  ac- 
complish the  work  desired.  Their  distance  apart  and 
depth  will  be  treated  of  under  their  appropriate  heads. 

The  junction  of  all  branch  drains  with  mains  and 


36  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

sub-mains  should  be  at  such  an  angle  that  the  pipe  wil 
discharge  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  direction  of  th< 
current  of  the  main  and  larger  stream.  Where  it  i; 
necessary  to  have  the  drains  connect  at  right  or  obtusi 
angles,  the  junction  tiles  should  be  curved  in  the  di 
rection  of  the  current  into  which  it  discharges.  It  wil 
be  observed  that  in  the  figures  given  all  angles  ar 
avoided.  When  a  change  of  direction  is  desired  curve 
are  used.  The  reasons  for  this  will  be  discussed  mor 
fully  further  on. 

We  wish  to  urge  upon  all  who  are  about  to  under 
take  drainage  that  the  application  of  correct  principle 
to  practice  is  what  is  most  needed.  We  can  no 
always  fully  carry  out  a  correct  theory  in  practice,  bu 
the  nearer  we  come  to  it  the  better  will  be  our  work 

STAKING  AND  LEVELING  FOR  DRAINS. 

The  next  step  is  to  lay  out  the  drains  and  properl 
prepare  them  for  their  actual  construction.  Thi 
should  not  be  done  by  guess  work,  either  by  the  farme 
or  professional  ditcher.  Draining  on  prairie  land  is 
very  different  thing  from  draining  on  hillsides,  or  nea 
the  bank  of  some  lake  or  creek.  We  can  not  afford  t 
waste  time,  money  and  strength  trying  experiments  i 
draining,  when  the  success  of  the  work  may  be  know 
before  the  ditch  is  begun  or  a  single  tile  laid.  Ther 
are  several  methods  of  preparing  the  drains  for  th 
ditcher,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  one  that  is  bes 
understood  by  the  operator  will  seem  to  him  the  mos 
desirable.  The  method  we  shall  describe  we  think  ha 
the  advantage  of  being  applicable  to  every  case,  an' 
easy  to  work  from  in  constructing  the  drain.  ^ 

We  shall  attempt  such  a  minute  description  of  i 
that  any  one,  whether  he  possesses  an  engineer's  leve' 


LEVELING   AND   LOCATING   DRAINS. 


37 


water  level,  or  any  other  means  of  obtaining  a  hori- 
zontal line,  can  stake  out  and  level  the  drains. 

In  all  the  operations  of  staking  out,  leveling,  grad- 
ing and  laying  drains,  we  begin  at  the  outlet.  This  is 
the  base  upon  which  to  found 
our  calculations.  Having  pre- 
viously determined  the  posi- 
tion of  the  outlet,  and  the 
course  of  the  drains,  from  ob- 
servations made  in  the  early 
spring,  and  the  preliminary 
levels  before  mentioned,  we 
prepare  stakes  of  two  kinds 
with  which  to  stake  out  the 
lines.  One  of  these  is  called 
a  grade  peg,  and  should  be 
about  one  inch  square  in  sec- 
tion,  and  eight  inches  long. 
The  other  is  called  a  guide 
stake,  and  is  best  when  made 
of  boards  one  inch  thick,  two 
inches  wide  and  two  feet  long. 
The  upper  four  inches  of  this 
stake  should  be  planed  on  one 
side  sufficiently  smooth  to  re- 
ceive and  hold  a  pencil  mark. 
An  idea  of  these  stakes  and 
their  use  may  be  obtained  from 
fig.  13."  Knowing  about  the 
length  of  drain  to  be  laid  out,  prepare  a  set,  which 
consists  of  a  grade  peg  and  guide  stake  for  each  fifty 
feet  of  length.  We  also  need  a  measuring  chain  or 
a  tape  line  graduated  to  feet,  and  a  hatchet  with  which 
to  drive  the  stakes. 


38  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

Begin  at  the  outlet  of  the  main  and  drive  a  grade 
peg  about  one  foot  to  the  right  of  the  center  line  of 
the  drain,  and  as  near  the  end  as  is  desirable.  At  the 
right  of  the  peg  and  about  five  inches  from  it,  set  a 
guide  stake,  near  the  top  of  which  mark  O  with  a 
heavy  lead  pencil  (see  figure).  Measure  a  length  of 
fifty  feet  from  the  O  stake  and  set  a  grade  peg  and  ac- 
companying guide  stake,  as  in  the  first  case,  and  mark 
the  figure  50  upon  the  guide  stake.  The  upper  marks 
upon  the  guides  indicate  the  number  of  feet  of  length 
from  the  outlet.  The  grade  pegs  should  be  placed  as 
near  to  the  edge  of  the  proposed  ditch  as  they  can  and 
remain  firm  after  the  ditch  is  dug.  There  is  no  reason 
why  the  stakes  should  be  set  fifty  feet  apart  rather  than 
any  other  distance,  except  that  in  practice  it  seems  to 
be  the  most  convenient  to  work  from.  Let  the  whole 
main  line  be  staked  out  in  this  manner,  numbering  the 
stakes  O  50,  100,  150,  etc.  Where  there  is  a  curve  in 
the  ditch  let  the  chain  or  tape  follow  the  line,  that  we 
may  know  the  exact  number  of  tiles  required. 

Another  thing  to  be  noticed  at  the  time  the  main  is 
staked  out  is,  where  the  sub-mains  and  branches  enter. 
Wherever  a  junction  is  made  a  grade  peg  and  guide 
should  be  placed.  This  peg  marks  the  outlet  of  an- 
other drain,  and  should  be  marked  O,  and  its  name  in 
addition  to  its  number,  on  the  main  line.  An  example 
of  this  may  be  seen  at  stake  150  in  fig.  13. 

Some  system  of  designating  drains  is  needed  where 
there  are  many,  in  order  that  the  notes  may  be  kept 
without  confusion,  and  correspond  with  the  plat  which 
is  made  after  the  drains  are  staked  out.  The  main  is 
known  simply  as  the  main.  A  sub-main  is  a  promi- 
nent branch  of  the  main,  which  has  branches  of  its 
own.  We  call  the  sub-mains  branch  A,  branch  B;  etc., 


LEVELING   AND    LOCATING    DRAINS.  39 

. 

in  order  as  they  are  laid  out,  counting  from  the  outlet 
of  the  main.  Branches  of  the  sub-mains  are  desig- 
nated as  No.  1,  2,  etc.,  of  A ;  No.  1,  2,  etc.,  of  B ;  and 
so  on,  numbering  in  order  from  the  junction  of  the  sub- 
main  with  the  main.  The  guide  stakes  on  each  branch 
are  numbered  from  its  junction  towards  its  source. 

Having  staked  out  our  lines,  we  next  take  our  level- 
ing instrument,  however  simple  it  may  be,  and  find  the 
elevation  of  each  peg  by  setting  the  level  rod  on  the 
peg,  which  should  be  driven  down  even  with  the  sur- 
face, and  taking  a  reading  in  the  manner  described 
under  the  head  of  leveling.  The  pegs  being  driven  to 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  their  elevation  above  the 
datum  plane  will  truly  represent  the  surface  of  the 
ground  along  the  line  of  the  drain.  Call  the  elevation 
of  the  peg  at  the  outlet  100  feet.  Take  another  level 
where  the  outlet  tile  will  be  placed  (see  a,  fig.  13),  and 
be  sure  that  there  is  sufficient  fall  below  it  to  carry 
away  the  water  as  fast  as  it  is  discharged.  This  last 
level  will  give  the  elevation  of  the  bottom  of  the  tile 
at  the  outlet,  or  what  we  call  the  grade  line  at  O  stake. 

The  method  of  leveling  and  keeping  the  notes  is  the 
same  as  previously  described,  except  that  it  is  more 
complete.  There  are  added  to  the  notes  before  de- 
scribed, three  columns  for  computing  the  grades  and 
depth.  The  following  is  given  merely  as  an  example 
to  show  the  method  of  keeping  the  notes.  Figure  13 
gives  a  section  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  the 
stakes  are  set  and  marked,  both  for  depth  of  ditch  and 
length  of  line,  but  it  is  not  a  true  profile  from  the 
notes  here  given.  This  will  be  referred  to  again. 


40 


PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 


FIELD  NOTES  OF  MAIN  DRAIN. 


Sta. 

+S. 

H.  of  1. 

—  S. 

Eleva- 
tion. 

Grade 
Line. 

D'pth 

Dep.  in 
ft.&in. 

Remarks. 

O 

645 

106.45 



100.00 

97.25 

2.75 

2—9 

Grade  50  to  100,  or  ft 

inches  to  100  feet. 

A 

9.20 

97  25 

tile  can  be  laid. 

50 



6.32 

100.13 

97.50 

2.63 

2-7% 

100 

5.92 

100  53 

97.75 

2  78 

2—9% 

150 

561 

100  84 

98  00 

2  84 

2    10V£ 

200 

512 

101  33 

98  25 

3  08 

3  i 

250 

7.10 

108.94 

4.61 

101.84 

98.50 

3.34 

3-4K 

Br.A 

300 

6  72 

10°  2° 

98  75 

3  47 

3    &A 

300. 

>;•• 

<-. 

350 





6.11 

102.83 

98.91 

3.92 

3-11% 

—100.  or  7%  inches 
to  100  feet. 

400 





6.72 

102.22 

99.07 

3.15 

3-1% 

450 

7.21 

101.73 

99.23 

2.50 

2—6 

450  middle  of  sag  or 

, 

pond. 

500 





7.11 

101.83 

99.39 

2.44 

2-5% 

Each  drain  has  a  set  of  notes  similar  to  the  above. 
The  notes  for  branch  A  would  be  headed  branch  A 
from  stake  300  of  main.  A  branch  of  A  would  be 
headed  No.  1  from  225  of  A.  By  this*system  of  notes 
everything  pertaining  to  the  survey  is  kept  distinct, 
and  may  be  referred  to  at  any  time.  We  will  next 
take  up  the  method  of  computing  grade  and  finding 
the  depth. 

COMPUTING  GRADE  AND  DEPTH. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the  "Field  Notes"  given, 
there  are  three  columns  of  figures  more  than  were 
given  under  the  head  of  "Leveling."  The  first  of 
these  is  headed  "  Grade  Line,"  so  called  because  it  con- 
tains the  elevation  above  datum  of  points  on  the  line 
upon  which  it  is  proposed  to  lay  the  drain.  These 
points  are  below  and  opposite  every  "grade  peg" 


LEVELING   AND   LOCATING   DRAINS.  41 

whose  elevation  has  been  found  and  recorded  in  the- 
column  of  "  Elevations."  When  connected  by  a  line 
they  form  the  "  Grade  Line/7  or  line  which  determines 
the  position  of  the  drain  with  respect  to  its  depth. 

The  second  additional  column,  headed  "Depth  of 
Cut,"  or  simply  "  Depth,"  gives  the  distances  from  the 
grade  pegs  to  the  grade  line,  or  the  depth  of  cut  to  be 
made,  measured  from  the  pegs.  The  numbers  in  this 
column  are  feet  and  decimals  of  a  foot,  as  these  are 
much  simpler  for  computation.  The  last  column  of 
the  three  is  the  same  as  the  preceding  one,  except  that 
the  numbers  are  feet  and  inches  in  place  of  feet  and 
decimals  of  a  foot.  This  change  from  decimals  of  a 
foot  to  inches  is  for  convenience  in  digging  the  ditch, 
as  the  common  measuring  square  is  the  most  conve- 
nient and  most  commonly  used  in  laying  off  a  measur- 
ing gauge.  If  the  leveling  rod  used  in  the  work  is 
graduated  to  feet  and  inches,  only  one  column  will  be 
necessary,  as  the  depth  will  be  given  in  the  same  units. 
Using  the  scale  of  feet  and  inches,  however,  makes  the- 
computations  much  more  difficult  than  they  are  when 
the  decimal  scale  is  used.  The  column  headed  "Re- 
marks" contains  comments  upon  the  grade,  location, 
etc.,  which  are  often  a  very  valuable  part  of  the  notes. 

We  have  briefly  explained  what  these  columns  con- 
tain. We  will  now  notice  the  method  by  which  they 
are  obtained.  The  starting  point  of  the  grade  line 
was  ascertained  when  we  found  the  place  for  the  out- 
let of  the  drain,  shown  at  a  fig.  13,  and  recorded  in 
the  notes  as  97.25.  We  have  found  by  previous  lev- 
eling that  there  is  sufficient  fall  below  to  allow  the 
water  to  flow  away  freely,  if  we  locate  the  outlet  of 
the  line  at  this  point.  Now,  ascertain  by  the  notes  the 
fall  we  have  in  the  given  distance  (the  principles  in- 


42  PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 

solved  in  this  will  be  discussed  hereafter),  and  divide 
ithis  by  the  number  of  hundred  feet,  and  we  have  the 
;grade,  or  fall  per  100  feet.  Suppose  that  this,  as  given 
in  the  first  of  the  notes  before  referred  to,  is  .50  feet, 
or  .25  for  each  50  feet  of  length.  Add  .25  to  97.25, 
and  this  will  give  us  the  grade  line  elevation  at  stake 
50,  or  97.50 ;  then  to  this  result  again  add  .25,  and  we 
have  the  grade  line  elevation  at  stake  100,  or  97.75, 
and  so  on — continuing  to  add  .25  to  each  grade  line 
-elevation  to  obtain  the  succeeding  one,  until,  perhaps, 
it  becomes  necessary  to  change  the  grade,  when  the 
new  grade,  or  fall  per  50  feet  (which  in  the  notes  given 
:is  .16),  is  substituted  for  the  .25  in  the  successive  addi- 
tions, and  the  process  continues  as  before. 

To  obtain  the  next  column,  subtract  each  grade  line 
elevation  from  the  elevation  of  the  peg  at  the  same 
station,  or  subtract  each  number  in  the  grade  line 
.column  from  the  corresponding  number  on  the  same 
horizontal  line  in  the  elevation  column.  The  result 
will  be  the  depth  of  ditch  to  be  dug  at  each  peg.  Thus, 
by  subtracting  97.50  the  grade  line  elevation  at  station 
50  from  100.13,  the  elevation  of  the  grade  peg  at  the 
same  station,  we  have  2.63  as  the  depth  of  the  cut. 
The  decimals  in  this  column  are  then  changed  to 
inches,  and  the  depth  in  feet  and  inches  written,  for 
convenience,  in  a  separate  column,  thus  2.63  feet  be- 
comes in  the  next  column  2  feet  7f  inches.  The  num- 
bers in  this  column  headed  "  Depth  in  Feet  and  Inches" 
are  now  marked  upon  the  stakes  at  the  respective  sta- 
tions, as  shown  in  fig.  13.  The  stakes  now  show  two 
sets  of  numbers.  The  upper  one  indicates  the  dis- 
tance from  the  outlet ;  the  lower  one  shows  the  depth 
.at  which  the  tiles  should  be  laid,  measuring  from  the 
.top  of  the  grade  peg.  This  is  the  mechanical  oper- 


LEVELING  AND   LOCATING  DRAINS.  43 

tion  of  computing  grades,  and  we  trust  that  sufficient 
explanation  has  been  given  to  make  the  methods  plain. 
There  are,  however,  important  principles  which  should 
govern  this  work  in  order  to  insure  economical  results. 

DETERMINING  AND  ADJUSTING  GRADES. 

We  will  suppose  that  the  desired  drains  have  been 
staked  out  and  leveled,  and  we  have  all  of  the  neces- 
sary leveling  notes  in  our  book.  Determining  grades 
requires  much  skill  if  it  is  done  rapidly  and  in  the 
ibest  manner.  It  at  least  requires  careful  thought,  and 
the  inexperienced  will  find  that  a  profile  made  from 
the  notes  will  greatly  aid  in  the  work. 

The  question  of  how  little  grade  a  drain  may  have 
and  work  successfully  may  be  answered  by  asking, 
How  accurately  will  the  drain  be  laid  ?  We  know  of 
drains  laid  on  a  grade  of  one  inch  to  100  feet.  Such 
drains  must  be  laid  with  the  greatest  possible  precision, 
or  they  will  fail.  Drains  laid  on  a  grade  of  two  and 
three  inches  have  proved  eminently  satisfactory  when 
the  work  has  been  well  done.  Were  it  possible  to 
avoid  it,  we  should  never  lay  a  drain  on  a  less  grade 
than  two  inches  in  100  feet.  But  there  are  many 
places,  where,  if  we  drain  at  all,  under  the  present  sys- 
tem of  things,  we  must  lay  drains  upon  a  less  grade, 
and  when  it  is  necessary  to  do  so,  too  much  pains  can 
not  be  taken  in  finding  a  correct  grade,  and  laying  the 
tile  with  precision. 

Entering  more  into  the  details  of  deciding  upon 
grades,  for  the  sake  of  giving  a  clear  idea  of  every 
step,  we  will  suppose  that  the  outlet  of  the  drain  is  to 
be  3  feet  deep,  and  the  length  of  the  drain  700  feet. 
By  subtracting  the  elevation  at  the  outlet  from  the 
elevation  at  the  source,  as  found  in  the  notes,  we  find 


44  PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 

that  there  is  a  fall  of  28  inches  in  that  distance.  Di- 
viding the  number  of  inches  of  fall  by  the  number  of 
hundred  feet,  we  have  4  inches  as  the  grade  per  100 
feet.  If  the  drain  is  run  on  this  grade  it  will  then  be 
as  deep  at  the  upper  end  as  at  the  outlet.  If  we  wish 
to  have  the  drain  3  feet  deep  at  the  outlet,  and  only  2 
feet  5  inches  deep  at  the  upper  end,  we  shall  have  7 
inches  more  fall,  which  will  be  available  to  use  in  the 
grade  of  the  drain,  making  a  fall  of  35  inches,  or  5 
inches  per  100  feet.  Again,  supposing  wre  wish  to 
have  the  outlet  only  2  feet  deep,  and  the  upper  end  3  feet 
deep,  the  fall  which  can  be  used  in  the  grade  of  the 
drain  will  then  be  decreased  12  inches,  which  leaves  us 
only  16  inches  total  fall,  or  2^  inches  per  100  feet. 
Again,  taking  the  same  example,  we  have  the  same 
total  fall  in  the  whole  distance,  but  there  is  a  rise  of 
ground  somewhere  between  the  outlet  and  the  upper 
end,  as  may  be  seen  in  fig.  13,  through  which,  if  the 
drain  were  laid  on  a  uniform  grade,  as  noticed  in  the 
first  examples,  much  deep  digging  would  be  required, 
which  may  be  avoided  by  using  two  or  more  grades. 
For  example,  let  us  lay  out  the  first  300  feet  from  the 
outlet  on  a  grade  of  6  inches  per  100  feet.  We  have 
now  used  18  inches  of  the  fall,  and  if  wre  wish  the 
drain  to  be  the  same  depth  at  the  source  as  at  the  out- 
let, we  have  only  10  inches  fall  left  for  the  remaining 
400  feet,  or  2J  inches  per  100  feet.  This  gives  a  grade 
that  may  be  relied  upon  to  do  good  work,  and  will  not 
be  as  expensive  to  construct.  It  is  often  the  case  that 
there  is  not  sufficient  fall  to  permit  the  use  of  two  or 
more  grades  on  the  same  line ;  in  such  cases  the  deep 
cut  can  not  be  avoided. 

We  might  go   on  multiplying  examples,  but  those 
already  explained  may  be  sufficient  to  show  the  way 


LEVELING   AND    LOCATING   DKAINS.  45 

any  practicable  system  of  grades  may  be  made  out. 
Each  new  field  upon  which  drainage  is  undertaken 
will  present  examples  peculiar  to  itself,  which  will 
afford  abundant  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  skill 
on  the  part  of  the  farmer  or  engineer. 

It  is  desirable  that  the  grade  of  the  drain  increase 
toward  the  outlet,  rather  than  the  opposite,  though  this 
can  not  always  be  done.  When  a  branch  enters  an- 
other drain,  it  is  best  to  have  an  outfall  of  an  inch  or 
two,  in  addition  to  the  grade  of  the  drain.  This  over- 
comes the  resistance  offered  by  the  bend  at  the  junc- 
tion. If  the  grade  is  very  slight,  it  is  not  best  to  sac- 
rifice any  of  it  in  this  way,  but  let  the  branch  enter  on 
the  regular  grade.  At  every  bend  in  the  line  the  addi- 
tional friction  causes  a  decrease  in  the  velocity  of  the 
flow,  and  it  is  best  to  increase  the  grade  at  that  point, 
especially  if  the  bend  is  somewhat  short. 

These  few  suggestions  may  be  enough  to  enable  any 
one  to  adapt  his  work  to  the  case  in  hand.  The  depth 
of  drains,  which  will  be  considered  soon,  will  often 
have  much  to  do  with  determining  grades.  No  abso- 
lute rule  can  be  given ;  but  uniformity  should,  as  much 
as  possible,  be  aimed  at.  Carelessly  laid  out  grades 
are  a  fruitful  source  of  trouble  with  drains.  If  the 
water  alternately  flows  rapidly,  and  then  almost  stands 
still,  the  tile  is  at  one  place  full,  and  at  another  only 
part  full.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  tile  will  discharge 
only  part  of  what  it  is  capable  of  doing  and  would  do 
if  it  were  laid  on  a  carefully  arranged  grade.  A  care- 
ful survey  and  corresponding  grade  will  often  add  one- 
half  to  the  efficiency  of  the  drain. 


46 


PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DEPTH  AND  SIZE  OF  DRAINS. 

Silt  Basins— Depth  and  Distance  Apart  of  Drains— Sizes  of  Tile- 
Kind  of  Tile— Concrete  Tile. 

SILT  BASINS. 

The  silt  basin  is  often  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  a  sys- 
tem of  drains,  but  it  is  not  used  as  much  as  it  would 


Fig.  14 -Silt Basin 

be  if  its  advantages  were  better  understood.  It  may 
be  described  as  a  small  well,  placed  either  in  the  line 
of  a  single  drain,  or  at  the  junction  of  several  drains, 
and  serves  several  different  purposes.  Figure  14  gives 
an  idea  of  the  construction  and  use  of  the  silt  basin. 
It  may  be  built  of  brick,  stone,  or  plank,  and  may 
vary  in  diameter  from  twelve  to  twenty-four  inches, 
according  to  the  use  for  which  it  is  intended.  There 
should  be  a  depth  of  twelve  inches  below  the  tile  for 


DEPTH    AND   SIZE'  OF    BRAINS.  47" 

the  deposit  of  muddy  matter.  In  the  figure  given  it 
is  shown  two  feet  in  diameter,,  constructed  of  brick, 
with  a  stone  foundation.  In  draining  it  is  often  desir- 
able that  several  sub-mains  or  branches  should  join  at 
one  place,  and  there  unite  in  one  line  as  an  outlet  to- 
the  whole  system.  This  is  the  use  of  the  basin,  as 
shown  in  the  figure  here  given.  It  permits  us  to 
unite  several  drains  entering  at  different  angles,  with- 
out th^  objectionable  feature  of  short  turns,  which  we 
have  before  noticed.  To  facilitate  the  action  of  the* 
drains,  the  outlet  of  the  basin  should  be  a  few  inches 
lower  than  the  outlets  of  the  lines  of  tile  entering  it. 

Another  advantage  is,  that  the  fine  earth,  or  "  silt/' 
as  it  is  called,  which  finds  its  way  into  the  tile  and  is 
carried  along  with  the  drainage  water,  is  permitted  to 
settle  in  the  basin,  instead  of  being  carried  on  by  the 
current,  to  lodge  in  some  portion  of  the  drain  where  a 
turn  is  made,  or  where  the  velocity  is  decreased  by  a 
less  grade.  The  basin  should  have  a  cover,  which  may 
be  removed  and  the  silt  taken  out  before  it  impedes 
the  flow  of  water  through  the  tiles. 

Another  use  of  the  silt  basin  is  to  prevent  the  silt 
from  obstructing  the  drain  in  cases  where  the  grade 
suddenly  changes  from  a  steep  grade  to  one  consider- 
ably less.  This  retards  the  flow,  which  causes  the  silt 
coming  from  the  upper  part  of  the  drain  to  be  depos- 
ited at  the  point  where  the  change  to  a  less  grade  is 
made.  Here  is  where  the  basin  should  be  placed,  in 
order  that  the  silt  may  be  intercepted  and  removed 
when  the  lower  portion  of  the  basin  becomes  full. 
For  this  purpose  the  diameter  of  the  basin  may  be 
much  less  than  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  water 
of  several  drains. 

In  the  ordinary  drainage  upon  western  farms,  there 


48  PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 

is  but  little  necessity  for  the  construction  of  basins  for 
the  purpose  of  simply  collecting  silt,  for  there  is  usu- 
ally not  enough  difference  in  the  grade  to  cause  any 
.alarm  on  that  account.  Yet  near  streams  which  break 
the  land  up  into  alternate  steep  slopes  and  flat  bottoms, 
they  are  sometimes  a  necessity.  In  long  mains,  how- 
ever, it  is  best  to  locate  silt  basins  at  various  places 
along  the  line  for  the  purpose  of  watching  the  action 
of  the  drain,  and  to  see  that  its  several  sections  are  in 
perfect  condition. 

Where  the  soil  consists  of  loam  on  a  firm  clay  sub- 
soil, there  is  very  little  and  sometimes  no  deposit  of 
silt  after  the  drain  has  been  in  operation  a  few  weeks. 
There  are  many  sub-soils,  even  in  prairie  lands,  which 
-contain  streaks  of  sandy  material,  which,  for  some 
time  after  the  construction  of  the  drain,  will  find  its 
way  into  the  tiles.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  provisions 
made  for  the  interception  of  silt  must  be  regulated  by 
the  kind  of  material  in  the  soil  through  which  the 
drain  runs. 

We  can  not  urge  too  strongly  the  use  of  the  silt  ba- 
sin for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  water  of  several 
drains  into  one,  and  thence  conveying  it  to  the  ulti- 
mate outlet.  In  the  system  of  laying  out  drains,  de- 
scribed in  a  former  paper,  and  shown  in  fig.  11,  the 
use  and  importance  of  the  silt  basin  is  shown.  A  ju- 
dicious use  of  the  silt  basin  for  the  several  purposes 
for  which  it  is  intended,  will  greatly  increase  the  effi- 
ciency of  any  system  of  drains. 

DEPTH  AND  DISTANCE  APART  OF  DRAINS. 

Depth. — So  intimately  are  the  subjects  of  depth  of 
drains  and  their  distance  apart  connected,  that  we  can 
not  fix  upon  one  without  taking  into  account  the  other. 


DEPTH   AND  blJE  OF   DKAINS.  49 

The  first  question  which  should  be  answered  is  in  ref- 
erence to  the  depth  which  we  wish  to  drain  the  soil. 
What  is  the  most  suitable  depth  for  the  soil  we  have, 
and  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  to  be  drained,  taking  into 
account  the  cost  of  drains  at  different  depths,  and  the 
•comparative  advantages  to  be  derived  from  them? 
The  drains  must  at  least  be  placed  deep  enough  to  re- 
ceive no  injury  from  frost  during  the  winter.  This  is 
about  two  feet,  though  drains  much  nearer  the  surface 
than  this  have  done  good  work  for  some  time,  but  can 
not  be  regarded  as  safe.  How  much  deeper  than  this 
we  had  better  go  depends  upon  several  facts  and  princi- 
ples, to  which  we  hope  the  reader  will  give  attention, 
for  in  this,  as  in  many  other  matters  of  drainage,  no 
absolute  rule  can  be  laid  down  and  mechanically 
obeyed. 

Many  farmers  have  a  mistaken  idea  in  thinking  that 
the  removal  of  surface  water  sufficiently  to  fit  the  soil 
for  plowing  in  the  spring,  and  comfortable  tillage  dur- 
ing the  summer,  is  the  sole  object  of  drainage.  The 
advantages  of  a  deep  soil,  and  the  use  made  of  it  by 
growing  crops,  have  been  explained  in  previous  chapters. 
If  we  wish  a  deep  soil,  it  is  evident  we  must  remove 
the  surplus  water  and  admit  the  air  to  the  depth  to 
which  we  desire  the  roots  of  the  plants  to  penetrate 
and  receive  nourishment.  We  hear  many  arguments 
in  favor  of  very  shallow  cultivation  of  growing  crops, 
on  the  ground  that  the  roots  at  the  surface  will  be  cut 
in  pieces  and  so  deprive  the  plant  of  nourishment. 
This  argument  will  apply  only  to  undrained  or  shal- 
low drained  land,  where  it  will  be  found  that  the  great 
bulk  of  the  roots  lie  near  the  surface,  only  a  few  pen- 
etrating the  undrained  soil. 
4 


50 


PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 


In  order  to  obtain  a  given  depth  of  drained  soil,  let 
us  notice  a  few  things  connected  with  the  action  of 
drains  which  were  merely  hinted  at  in  the  explanation 
of  fig.  6.  In  fig.  15,  we  have  a  section  of  three  drains 
T  T  T.  It  was  stated  under  this  heading,  "  How  Wa- 
ter  Enters  a  Tile-Drain/'  that 
the  line  of  saturation  on  either 
side  of  the  drain  is  a  curved 
line,  and  that  this  line,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  the 
water-table,  varies  in  height 
according  as  the  soil  is  com- 
pletely  drained  or  only  par- 
tially  so.  The  line  of  satura- 
e  I  tion  may  be  as  represented  by 
j  the  line  bb,  or  it  may  descend 
much  more  sharply  towards 
§  |  the  drain,  as  is  represented  by 
cc.  The  difference  in  these 
curves  is  caused  by  the  nature 
of  the  soil.  In  the  first  case 
the  soil  is  light  and  easily 
penetrated  by  water,  and  but 
little  resistance  to  the  flow  to- 
ward the  drain  is  offered  by  the 
soil.  In  the  second  case  the 
soil  may  be  clay,  very  retentive 
of  water,  and  in  its  nature  will 
not  allow  water  to  flow  towards  the  drains  except  at  a 
steeper  incline.  In  this  case  a  portion  of  soil  between 
the  lines  of  tile  is  left  undrained,  which,  in  the  case  of 
a  more  permeable  soil,  would  be  well  drained.  Some 
writers  assert  that  there  is  no  lateral  flow  of  water 
through  the  soil  towards  the  drains,  but  a  few  experi- 


DEPTH   AND    SIZE   OF   DRAINS.  51 

ments  and  careful  observation  will  prove  the  contrary, 
and  the  truth  of  the  reasoning  herein  given. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  kind  of  soil  to  be  drained 
governs  the  depth  at  which  the  tile  should  be  laid,  and 
also  the  proximity  of  the  lines  to  each  other,  when  we 
consider  the  thoroughness  of  the  drainage. 

The  advantages  of  deep  drainage  are,  first,  a  greater 
amount  of  soil  is  made  available  to  crops,  and  fewer  ill 
effects  are  felt  from  drought ;  second,  there  is  room  for 
more  water  in  the  soil  in  times  of  heavy  rainfall,  so 
that  water  may  rise  considerably  above  the  drains  for 
a  short  time  without  seriously  affecting  the  crops. 
Suppose  the  drains  are  located  at  tit  (see  figure).  The 
soil  becomes  drained  no  deeper  than  the  floor  of  the 
tile.  In  time  of  heavy  rain  the  water  can  not  pass  off 
as  fast  as  it  falls,  and  of  course  saturates  the  earth  much 
above  the  drains,  and  often  to  the  surface.  In  this 
case  the  tiles  must  be  much  larger,  so  as  to  carry  off  the 
water  nearly  as  fast  as  it  falls,  if  we  wish  to  keep  depth 
enough  of  drained  soil  so  that  no  injury  for  the  time 
being  may  be  done  to  the  crops.  This  will  many 
times  account  for  the  cry  often  made,  "  My  tiles  are  too 
small."  The  same  tile  placed  deeper,  thereby  giving 
a  larger  reservoir  in  which  to  collect  drainage  water 
in  times  of  heavy  rains,  would  often  remove  the  dif- 
ficulty. 

We  have  thus  far  been  general  in  the  discussion  of 
depth.  The  question  will  be  asked,  "What  particular 
depth  is  most  preferable,  all  things  considered  ? "  If 
we  are  careful  to  lay  out  grades  to  the  best  advantage> 
our  depth  will  vary  much  with  the  inequalities  of  the 
surface.  From  the  experience  of  many,  it  has  been 
found  that  a  depth  of  from  3  to  3J  feet  in  prairie  soil 
is  most  desirable.  It  will  be  found  that  some  portions 


52     -  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

will  be  laid  four  feet  deep  and  others  only  three  feet, 
or  even  less,  if  we  aim  at  a  general  depth  of  3J  feet. 
The  expense  of  digging  the  ditches  for  four-feet  drains 
is  much  greater  than  for  three-feet  drains,  so  that  for 
general  purposes  of  farm  drainage  the  above  instructions 
may  be  regarded  as  the  best  that  can  be  given.  It  is 
not  always  possible,  however,  to  obtain  the  desired 
depth,  because  of  the  shallow  outlets  which  farmers  are 
sometimes  obliged  to  use. 

Distances  Apart. — According  to  the  principles  al- 
ready noticed,  drains  in  a  retentive  clay  soil  must  be 
placed  nearer  together  than  in  ordinary  vegetable  loam, 
if  we  wish  to  drain  all  the  land  between  them.  Even 
then  the  water-table  will  not  recede  so  near  to  the  floor 
of  the  drain  as  when  the  water  percolates  more  freely 
and  rapidly  through  the  soil.  In  our  experience,  drains 
placed  100  feet  apart  in  our  loamy  soil,  and  3J  feet 
deep,  will  thoroughly  drain  the  land  where  the  surface 
is  ordinarily  flat.  It  has  been  found  that  so  easily  and 
rapidly  does  our  soil  drain,  there  is  no  necessity  for 
such  close  proximity  of  drains  as  is  used  in  the  East. 

If,  however,  the  soil  is  very  retentive,  especially 
near  the  surface,  a  distance  of  from  50  to  75  feet  may 
be  required  to  give  thorough  drainage. 

Let  us  now  sum  up  the  subject  of  Depth  and  Distance 
Apart  of  Drains.  The  line  aa,  fig.  15,  may  represent 
the  water-table  when  the  soil  is  not  retentive  to  any 
great  extent,  and  is  completely  drained.  This  water- 
table  takes  different  positions,  as  66,  depending  upon, 
the  quantity  of  surplus  water  in  the  soil.  In  this  kind 
of  soil  the  drains  may  be  placed  100  feet  apart.  Sup- 
pose that  the  drains  are  placed  at  this  distance  in  a 
very  retentive  soil,  as  is  one  which  is  largely  composed 
of  clay,  and  we  have  left  between  the  drains  a  portion 


DEPTH    AND   SIZE   OF   DRAINS.  53 

of  soil  which  is  undrained.  This  is  shown  by  the  line 
cc.  The  water-table  rises  from  the  drain  more  ab- 
ruptly, owing  to  the  greater  resistance  of  the  soil, 
which  limits  the  width  of  land  acted  upon  by  the 
drain.  This  requires  the  drains  to  be  placed  nearer 
together.  The  line  ee  rises  higher  between  the  drains, 
because  of  the  nature  of  the  soil ;  hence  the  drains 
must  be  placed  nearer  together.  It  is  not  necessary, 
perhaps,  to  give  any  demonstration  of  the  curves  from 
laws  which  govern  them.  The  statement  of  the  fact 
of  their  existence  is  all  we  shall  attempt  at  present. 

We  have  been  more  lengthy  in  the  discussion  of 
principles  than  in  laying  down  definite  rules,  for  the 
reason  that  a  good  general  knowledge  of  the  princi- 
ples will  enable  the  farmer  to  determine  the  matter  for 
his  own  particular  case,  where  definite  rules  would  not 
apply. 

SIZE  OF  TILES. 

It  has  been  previously  stated  that  the  grade  of  the 
drain  affects  the  velocity  of  the  flow  of  water,  and  con- 
sequently the  quantity  which  will  be  discharged  in  a 
given  time.  In  consequence  of  this  the  grades  of  the 
drains  which  we  wish  to  lay  should  be  known  before 
we  can  determine  the  most  economical  size  of  the  tile 
to  be  used  in  order  to  drain  a  field  or  farm.  In  the 
consideration  of  this  subject  we  shall  endeavor  to  give 
a  few  practical  directions,  which  have  been  found  to  be 
reliable,  without  entering  into  the  mathematical  de- 
monstration of  formulae,  which  would  not  be  of  use  to 
the  farmer  in  ordinary  drainage.  The  questions  to  be 
taken  into  consideration  relating  to  this  subject  are : 

1.  What  is  the  area  to  be  drained? 

2.  What  is  the  greatest  rainfall  upon  that  area  in 
twenty-four  hours  ? 


54  PEACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

3.  What  is  the  amount  of  surplus  water  which  must 
be  removed  from  the  soil  by  drains,  compared  with  the 
rainfall? 

In  the  case  of  casual  or  random  drainage,  by  which 
we  mean  the  laying  of  a  line  here  and  there  to  drain 
some  sag  or  wet  place,  and  of  which  there  is  a  great 
deal  done,  and  often  necessarily,  there  is  a  much  greater 
area  to  be  drained  by  one  line  of  tile  than  we  are  apt 
to  suppose.  The  one  line  will  act  directly  upon  a  strip 
of  land  fifty  feet  wide  on  either  side  of  it  (in  prairie 
soil),  giving  thorough  drainage,  and  indirectly  on  all 
the  land  whose  surface  slopes  toward  the  drain.  In 
case  of  ponds  and  sloughs,  a  great  quantity  of  water, 
in  times  of  heavy  rains,  passes  very  rapidly  over  the 
surface  of  surrounding  slopes  and  gathers  upon  the 
lowest  land  through  which  the  drain  passes.  There  is 
also  a  constant  percolation  of  water  through  the  soil 
upon  the  slope  towards  the  soil  which  is  directly  acted 
upon  by  the  drain.  This  has  before  been  described  as 
natural  under-drainage.  This  being  the  case,  we  have 
found  by  experience  that  the  area  which  we  should 
consider  in  fixing  upon  the  size  of  the  tile  is,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  land  acted  upon  directly  by  each  drain, 
about  one-third  of  all  the  land  beyond  this  which 
slopes  toward  the  drain,  provided  the  slope  is  three 
feet  or  more  in  one  hundred  feet.  The  less  the  slope 
the  more  we  may  decrease  this  amount.  For  example, 
suppose  the  land,  which  is  directly  drained  (taking 
fifty  feet  each  side  of  all  the  drains),  is  two  acres, 
and  the  sloping  area  beyond  this  is  nine  acres,  then 
the  area  for  which  we  must  provide  drainage  is  about 
five  acres.  A  failure  to  consider  the  drainage  area  in 
this  way  has  often  led  to  the  use  of  tiles  which  are  too 
small. 


DEPTH   AND   SIZE   OF   DRAINS. 


55 


If  the  land  is  flat  and  the  drains  laid  out  systemat- 
ically, the  area  drained  is  easily  determined.  In  such 
cases  we  need  only  to  remove  the  water  which  falls 
upon  the  district  itself.  If,  however,  this  district  has 
land  around  it  which  slopes  toward  it,  thereby  throw- 
ing water  upon  it  which  does  not  properly  belong 
there,  we  must  regard  the  area  in  the  same  way  as  in 
the  case  of  casual  drainage.  The  average  rainfall  does 
not  enter  into  this  computation,  but  the  greatest  rain- 
fall at  any  one  time.  If  we  can  provide  for  the 
removal  of  the  surplus  water  which  falls  during 
twenty-four  hours,  in  the  succeeding  twenty-four  hours, 
it  will  not  do  serious  injury  to  the  crops. 

To  find  what  this  maximum  quantity  is,  an  actual 
record  of  the  rainfall  at  this  place  (Tonica,  La  Salle 
county,  111.)  during  the  summer  of  1880,  will  serve  to 
show  what  we  may  expect.  The  table  gives  the  rain- 
fall in  inches  for  the  twenty-four  hours  previous  to  the 
morning  of  the  day  given  in  the  column  of  dates  : 


APRIL. 

MAY. 

JUNE. 

JULY. 

AUGUST. 

Date. 

Inches. 

Date. 

Inches 

Date. 

Inches. 

Date. 

Inches. 

Date 

Inches. 

Apr.  2 

0.08 

May  9 

1.20 

Jun.  6 

0.80 

July  5 

0.90 

Aug.  2 

0.30 

"    3 

0.23 

"  10 

0.94 

"    8 

0.10 

"    8 

0.30 

"  20 

0.28 

"    4 

0.21 

"  20 

0.28 

"    9 

0.37 

"  19 

0.20 

"  24 

0.63 

•"  14 

0.09 

"  21 

0.09 

"  14 

1.45 

"  20 

0.02 

"  25 

0.05 

41  16 

0.45 

"  27 

0.00 

"  15 

0.40 

"  23 

0.44 

"  27 

0.65 

41  17 

0.28 

"  30 

1.79 

"  25 

0.64 

Aug.l 

0.10 

"  28 

2.10 

41  19 

O.S6 

"  31 

1.18 

"  27 

0.19 

"  29 

1.80 

41  24 

0.70 

Jun.l 

030 

"  30 

0.50 

"  30 

0.30 

41  25 

0.56 

Julyl 

0.14 

Sept.  1 

0.20 

41  26 

0.02 

"  28 

0.18 

56  PRACTICAL   FARM    DRAINAGE. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  five  days  in  which  the 
rainfall  was  over  an  inch,  and  one  day  when  it  reached 
2.1  inches.  It  is  usually  considered  that  one  inch  of 
rain  in  twenty-four  hours  is  the  maximum  for  which 
it  is  necessary  to  provide.  The  very  excessive  rains 
are  quite  apt  to  come  after  the  soil  is  quite  dry,  and  a 
great  amount  is  absorbed.  As  this  is  not  always  the 
case,  we  should  not  be  safe  unless  we  assumed  that  one 
and  a  half  inches  would  at  times  fall  during  twenty- 
four  hours.  This  will  give  us  40,731  gallons  which 
fall  upon  one  acre  of  land. 

The  next  question  is,  what  part  of  this  water  is  used 
by  plants  and  carried  off  by  evaporation,  and  what 
part  must  be  removed  by  drainage?  Many  experi- 
ments have  been  made  to  determine  this,  and  the 
amount  discharged  by  drains  has  been  found  to  vary 
much  with  the  soil.  We  may  say,  in  general  terms, 
that  about  half  the  rainfall  should  be  carried  off 
through  the  drains.  For  a  rainfall  of  one  and  a  half 
inches  we  must  remove  20,365  gallons  of  water  from 
each  acre,  and  this  must  all  pass  through  at  least  a  part 
of  the  main  drain.  The  depth  to  which  the  land  is 
drained  and  the  nature  of  the  soil  will  vary  the  condi- 
tions, so  that  the  amount  of  water  to  be  taken  off  may 
be  much  less.  The  fact  that  the  soil  when  drained  to 
a  depth  of  three  or  four  feet  will  hold  an  immense 
quantity  of  water,  which  will  not,  for  the  time,  inter- 
fere with  growing  crops,  allows  us  to  use  much  smaller 
tiles  than  if  we  were  required  to  remove  all  of  the 
surplus  Avater  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  also  renders 
close  calculation  as  to  size  very  difficult.  As  noted 
before,  deep  drainage  requires  tiles  of  less  capacity  for 
the  same  area  than  shallow  drainage.  The  following 
directions  may  be  given  as  a  general  guide  in  regard 


DEPTH    AND   SIZE   OF   DRAINS.  57 

to  the  size  of  the  main  to  be  used  for  a  given  number  of 
acres.  We  Avill  take  as  a  basis  drains  laid  not  less  thai* 
three  feet  deep  and  on  a  grade  of  not  less  than  three 
inches  in  one  hundred  feet.  For  drains  not  more  than 
five  hundred  feet  long  a  two-inch  tile  will  drain  two- 
acres.  Lines  more  than  five  hundred  feet  long  should 
not  be  laid  of  two-inch  tile.  A  three-inch  tile  will 
drain  five  acres,  and  should  not  be.  of  greater  length 
than  one  thousand  feet. 

A  four-inch  tile  will  drain  twelve  acres. 

A  five-inch     "       "       "      twenty  acres. 

A  six-inch      "       "       "      forty  acres. 

A  seven-inch "  "  "  sixty  acres. 
A  long  drain  has  a  less  carrying  capacity  than  a 
short  drain  of  the  same  size  tile  laid  upon  the  same 
grade.  In  order  that  the  long  one  shall  do  as  effective 
work  as  the  short  one,  larger  tiles  must  be  used  if  the 
grade  remains  the  same.  If  we  double  the  grade  per 
one  hundred  feet  of  the  drain  we  increase  its  carrying 
capacity  about  one-third.  Hence,  the  steeper  the  grade 
the  smaller  the  tile  required  to  do  the  same  work.  In 
the  above  Ave  have  had  reference  to  the  size  of  the 
main.  The  size  of  sub-mains  and  branches  must  be 
proportionate  to  the  size  of  the  main,  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  fact  that  the  capacities  of  tiles  laid  upon 
the  same  grade  are  to  each  other  as  the  squares  of  their 
diameters.  Thus  the  capacity  of  a  two-inch  tile  is  to 
the  capacity  of  a  four-inch  tile  as  four  to  sixteen.  The 
size  of  the  tile  should  diminish  toward  the  upper  end, 
of  the  main  or  branch  according  to  the  decrease  in  the 
amount  of  water  which  will  need  to  pass  through  that 
portion  of  it.  In  case  the  drains  are  laid  only  from 
twenty  inches  to  thirty  inches  deep,  we  can  not  expect 
that  the  sizes  we  have  given  will  do  satisfactory  work5s 


<58  PRACTICAL    FARM   DRAINAGE. 

especially  in  times  of  heavy  rain.  The  instructions 
given  upon  this  subject  are  as  definite  as  is  desirable  to 
give,  unless  we  take  up  special  cases,  in  which  we  must 
vary  the  general  rules.  A  man  who  has  had  large 
experience  in  laying  out  drains  would,  of  course,  do  it 
more  economically  than  the  inexperienced,  for  he  could 
take  into  account  the  grades  upon  which  the  drains 
were  to  be  laid,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and  the  area  to 
be  drained.  In  this  subject  we  have  not  in  all  cases 
given  reasons  for  statements  made,  since  that  would 
take  more  space  than  seems  desirable  at  this  time,  but 
they  may  be  relied  upon  as  generally  true  respecting 
the  subject  under  consideration. 

KIND  OF  TILE. 

The  tile  selected  should  be  well  burned,  being  hard 
•enough  to  ring  when  struck  with  a  knife  blade.  It  is 
not  well  to  get  those  which  have  been  drawn  out  of 
shape  by  excessive  heat  in  burning.  They  should  be 
smooth  on  the  inside,  as  the  friction  will  be  less.  The 
best  shaped  tile,  all  things  considered,  is  that  in  which 
the  cross  section  is  a  circle.  They  can  be  laid  more 
easily  and  give  greater  capacity  for  the  material  used. 
The  requsites  then  are  circular  tile,  of  good  clay,  well 
burned,  smooth  and  true  in  shape. 

CONCRETE  TILE. 

While  tiles  made  of  burned  clay  have  been  well 
tried  and  are  safe  where  draining  is  practicable,  a  con- 
crete tile  has  been  introduced  during  the  past  year, 
which  promises  to  serve  an  excellent  purpose.  It  is 
manufactured  by  means  of  a  simple  machine,  which  is 
operated  in  the  ditch  after  it  has  been  dug  and  graded 
in  the  usual  way.  The  materials  used  are  the  best 
^quality  of  hydraulic  cement,  lime,  and  coarse  sand. 


DEPTH   AND   SIZE   OF    DRAINS.  59 

These  are  mixed  in  proportions  suitable  to  the  work 
and  made  into  a  stiff  mortar.  The  mortar  is  fed  into 
the  machine  through  a  hopper  and  comes  out  at  the 
rear  end  of  the  machine  a  continuous  pipe,  smooth 
inside  and  outside.  By  means  of  a  trowel  made  for 
the  purpose,  the  continuous  pipe  thus  made  is  cut  into 
sections  of  any  desired  length,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
bottom  is  left  continuous,  yet  sufficient  crevices  are 
left  for  the  entrance  of  water.  The  cement  soon  sets, 
and  in  a  day  is  hard  enough  to  bear  the  weight  of 
the  filling  without  crushing.  When  fully  hardened, 
the  tile  has  the  durability  of  stone.  The  machine  and 
material  are  not  very  expensive,  and  the  farmer  will 
find  it  to  his  advantage  to  investigate  this  new  tile  and 
its  manufacture.  So  far,  it  lacks  the  tests  of  time  and 
experience  to  prove  its  desirability,  yet  in  the  writer's 
opinion  it  will  serve  an  excellent  purpose  in  many 
places,  especially  for  continuous  water  pipes  about  the 
barn  and  dwelling. 


UNIVERSITY 


60  PRACTICAL,   FARM   DRAINAGE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICAL  DETAILS  OF  THE  WORK. 

Mapping  Drains— Construction  of  Drains,  Grading  the  Bottom, 
Outlet,  Laying  Tile — Difficulties  in  Constructing  Drains — Ob- 
structions to  Drains — Junctions. 

MAPPING  THE  DRAINS. 

The  drains  having  been  staked  out  upon  the  ground, 
the  grades  arranged,  and  the  size  and  number  of  tile 
fixed  upon,  we  should  make  a  map  of  the  drains  which 
will  show  their  position,  length,  fall  per  100  feet,  and 
the  physical  features  of  the  land  through  which  they 
pass.  This,  with  the  notes,  will  give  all  the  informa- 
tion respecting  the  drains  which  it  will  be  necessary  to 
preserve.  The  map  is  merely  a  sketch  showing  the 
position  and  length  of  the  drains,  like  the  one  shown 
in  fig.  16;  can  be  easily  made;  will  show  what  has 
been  done,  and  will  serve  as  a  record  of  the  improve- 
ments in  the  drainage  line,  just  as  others  are  shown  by 
houses,  barns  and  fences.  One  may  think  he  does  not 
care  for  a  map  of  his  drains,  as  they  will  show  them- 
selves in  the  condition  and  improvement  of  the  soilr 
yet  when  he  begins  to  forget  their  location  he  will 
wish  that  he  had  some  representation  of  them  to  re- 
fresh his  memory  and  to  show  his  friends,  if  nothing 
more. 

THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  DRAINS. 

The  work  done  thus  far  has  been  preparatory  to  the 
actual  digging  of  the  ditch  and  laying  of  the  tile.  It 
will  seem  to  many  that  the  staking  out,  leveling  and 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   THE   WORK. 


61 


adjusting  the  grade  of  drains,  is  too  much  work  for 
little  pay,  if  not  wholly  useless.  The  farmer,  perhaps, 
has  seen  his  neighbor  do  some  draining  "by  guess" 
which  has  worked  well,  or  he  may  have  laid  a  short 
line  of  tile  himself  with  good  results,  by  simply  using 
the  running  water  as  a  guide.  In  more  extended  sys- 


^1800, 


Scale:  1  inch  to  600  feet 


Fig.  16.— Map  of  a  Drainad  Field. 

terns,  and  with  no  water,  or  even  with  water  lor  a 
guide,  he  will  sometimes  partially  or  entirely  fail. 
"  Be  sure  you're  right  and  then  go  ahead,"  is  the  motto  to 
use  in  draining.  With  the  drains  laid  out  and  depths 
marked  upon  the  stakes,  and  every  thing  arranged  as 
it  should  be,  we  know  in  advance  that  the  drains  will 
work  perfectly,  if  they  are  laid  according  to  the  sur- 
vey. If  the  whole  system  is  not  completed  at  one 


62  PRACTICAL   F4RM    DRAINAGE. 

time,  a  part  can  be  done  in  one  year  and  the  rest  the 
next,  or  any  other  convenient  time,  though  it  is  better 
to  do  it  all  at  once,  as  the  frost  will  move  the  grade 
pegs  so  much  that  the  unfinished  part  will  be  obliged 
to  be  leveled  again.  It  is  better,  however,  to  do  part 
of  the  leveling  twice  if  necessary,  rather  than  not  have 
the  drains  laid  out  upon  some  connected  system. 

Digging  the  Ditch. — The  tools  which  are  necessary 
to  do  good  and  rapid  work  are,  First,  a  ditching  spade 
for  the  main  part  of  the  digging.  This  spade  has  a 

blade  about  eighteen  inches 
long,  a  little  narrower  than  the. 
common  spade,  and  curved  to- 
wards the  front.  The  superi- 
ority of  this  over  the  common 
spade  is  that  it  is  capable  of 
Fig.  n-  Tile  Hoe  taking  narrower  and  deeper 

drafts,  which  will  adhere  to  the  spade  until  it  can  be  lifted 
out.  Secondly,  a  tile  spade,  which  is  narrower  than 
the  ditching  spade,  and  tapers  towards  the  point.  Third, 
a  "pull  scoop,"  or  tile-hoe,  for  cleaning  the  bottom  of 
the  ditch.  The  handle  of  this  should  be  at  such  an  an- 
gle that  the  workman  can  use  it  when  standing  in  the 
ditch  sixteen  inches  from  the  bottom.  As  this  is  a 
very  handy  tool,  and  it  is  often  necessary  to  get  it 
made  by  the  blacksmith,  we  give  a  drawing  of  it  (fig. 
17).  It  is  most  convenient  when  it  is  just  large  enough 
to  make  a  channel  into  which  the  tile  to  be  used  will  fit 
firmly.  This  would  necessitate  a  different  hoe  for  ev- 
ery different  sized  tile.  A  tile-hoe  suited  to  three- 
inch  tiles  may  be  used  for  much  larger  sizes,  with  a 
little  care  and  extra  work.  Fourth,  a  gauge,  which  is 
a  stick  six  feet  long,  and  one  and  one-fourth  inches 
square  in  section,  graduated  to  feet,  inches  and  eighths 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   THE   WORK.!  6& 

of  inches,  and  having  an  arm  two  feet  long,  which; 
slides  up  and  down  upon  the  graduated  stick.  The 
arm  should  move  at  a  right  angle  to  the  stick  and 
fasten  at  any  desired  point  by  means  of  a  thumb-screw^ 
Fifth,  a  strong  hemp  line  100  feet  long,  for  lining  out 
the  ditch,  and  also  for  a  gauge  line  to  be  used  in  grad- 
ing the  bottom  of  the  ditch. 

Begin  opening  the  ditch  at  the  outlet.  Stretch  the 
line  about  four  inches  from  the  grade  pegs,  and  take 
out  one  draft  with  the  ditching  spade,  making  the 
ditch  ten  inches  to  twelve  inches  wide,  where  the  ditch 
does  not  exceed  four  feet  in  depth.  The  ditch  should 
be  clean  cut  and  straight  on  the  sides.  If  there  are 
short  crooks  when  it  is  started  at  the  surface,  they  are 
apt  to  increase  as  the  ditch  is  deepened,  so  that  the 
final  channel  for  the  tile  becomes  crooked  to  a  trouble- 
some degree.  The  workman  should  have  in  mind  the 
depth  which  is  marked  upon  the  stakes,  between  which 
he  is  working,  and  in  digging  he  should  aim  to  leave 
a  bottom  spading  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  inches  for  the 
one  who  finishes  and  grades  the  bottom.  We  are  sup- 
posing that  the  soil  works  easily,  not  being  hard  enough 
to  require  picking,  when  we  give  ten  or  twelve  inches 
for  the  width  of  the  ditch  at  the  top.  If  the  soil  is  so 
hard  that  the  spade  can  not  be  pushed  down  its  full 
length,  or  it  must  be  loosened  with  a  pick,  more  width 
must  be  allowed — sometimes  even  twenty  inches — at 
the  top,  the  ditch  in  all  cases  slanting  in,  of  course, 
toward  the  bottom,  to  the  width  of  the  tile. 

Grading  the  Bottom. — The  ditch  having  been  dug  to 
within  sixteen  inches  of  the  bottom,  as  near  as  the 
workman  can  judge,  we  must  take  out  the  last  draft 
with  the  tile  spade,  and  bring  the  bottom  to  a  true 
grade  and  depth,  as  indicated  by  the  stakes.  These,, 


PRACTICAL    FARM    DRAINAGE. 


we  remember,  give  the  depth  measured  from  the  grade- 
fpeg.  It  remains  for  us  to  connect  these  points  so  that 
*the  bottom  of  the  ditch  shall  be  a  true  line  upon  which 
we  may  lay  the  tile.  There  are  many  ways  of  doing  this 

correctly,  but  we  give 
only  one,  which  has 
been  found  simple, 
easy,  practical  and  cor- 
rect, ai\d  which  is  a  fa- 
vorite method 'with  all 
who  have  used  it.  It 
consists  in  stretching  a 
I  line  at  the  side  of  the 
|  ditch  at  any  convenient 
^  height  parallel  to  the 
|  required  bottom  of  the 
&  ditch,  as  shown  in  fig. 
22  18.  In  order  to  do 
^  this,  we  take  the  gauge 
before  described,  a  con- 
venient length  of  which 
is  six  feet,  though,  of 
course,  for  very  deep 
ditches  it  must  be 
longer.  In  a  four-foot 
ditch  we  may  set  the 
arm  of  the  gauge  at  six 
feet.  Now,  noticing  the  number  of  feet  and  inches  marked 
upon  the  first  stake,  subtract  it  from  six  feet,  and  note  the 
difference.  Drive  a  stake,  a,  by  the  side  of  the  grade- 
peg  until  the  distance  from  the  top  of  the  peg  to  the 
top  of  the  stake  a  is  the  same  as  this  difference.  Set 
another  stake  at  the  next  grade-peg  in  the  same  way. 
vStretch  the  line  over  the  tops  of  these  stakes  and  fasten 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   THE   WORK.  65 

by  small  pegs,  as  shown  in  the  cut.  The  line  is  now 
parallel  to  the  line  upon  which  we  wish  to  lay  the  tile, 
and  six  feet  above  it.  It  may  be  set  any  other  con- 
venient distance  above  the  bottom  by  the  same  method. 
If  the  line  sags,  place  a  stake  under  its  middle.  Take 
out  the  last  draft  with  the  tile-spade,  being  careful  not 
to  go  too  deep.  Dig  as  far  at  a  time  only  as  you  can 
conveniently  reach  back  over  with  the  tile-hoe,  and 
then,  without  stepping  down  to  the  bottom  of  the 
ditch,  clean  out  the  loose  dirt  with  the  tile-hoe.  Have 
the  gauge  at  hand,  and  holding  it  in  a  vertical  position, 
see  what  is  necessary  to  make  the  bottom  parallel  with 
the  line.  Then  pare  the  bottom  down  until  the  arm 
of  the  gauge  when  again  placed  will  just  graze  the  line. 
Test  every  foot  along  the  bottom,  and  do  not  leave  it 
until  it  is  right.  A  little  water  in  the  bottom  of  the 
ditch  causes  the  soil  to  work  easier,  but  more  than  two 
inches  is  a  hindrance  to  good  work.  The  digging  may 
go  on  in  this  way,  the  workman  being  careful  not  to 
walk  in  the  ditch  after  it  is  prepared  for  the  tile.  The 
line  is  set  from  stake  to  stake  as  the  work  proceeds,  due 
care  being  taken  that  everything  is  right. 

Laying  the  Tile. — Before  the  ditch  has  been  graded 
far,  it  is  best  to  lay  and  cover  the  tiles,  to  prevent  hin- 
drance by  the  falling  in  of  earth.  Begin  at  the  outlet 
and  lay  the  tiles  by  hand,  turning  them  about  until  the 
ends  fit  closely  upon  the  top.  If  the  bottom  is  firm 
and  hard,  the  workman  may  stand  upon  the  part  al- 
ready laid,  for  the  tiles  should  fit  true  and  solid  in  the 
groove  made  for  them.  Be  sure  that  they  are  turned 
until  they  fit  well.  This  is  an  important  part  of  the 
work,  and  must  not  be  slighted.  When  the  work  of 
laying  stops,  while  more  ditch  is  being  prepared,  the 
5 


66  PKACTICAL   FA§M    DRAINAGE. 

upper  end  of  the  drain  should  be  protected  from  mud 
which  may  be  washed  down  as  the  digging  proceeds. 
If  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  is  soft,  the  tiles  may  be  laid 
from  the  surface  with  a  tile-hook.  Workmen  who  do 
job  work  prefer  this,  as  the  work  is  done  easier  and 
faster,  but  for  excellence  of  work  we  prefer  the  hand 
laying.  The  upper  end  of  each  drain  should  be  closed 
by  placing  a  stone  or  brick  over  the  end  of  the  tile 
before  covering.  The  tiles  when  laid  should  be  imme- 


JFig.  19  -  Outlet 

diately  covered  with  moist  clay,  which  has  just  been 
taken  out,  or  is  obtained  by  slicing  off  from  the  sides 
of  the  ditch  with  the  spade.  This  should  be  firmly 
pressed  about  the  tile  with  the  feet  to  a  depth  of  six 
inches. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  attend  to  is  to  secure  the 
outlet  from  injury  by  trampling  of  stock,  etc.,  and  the 
entrance  of  vermin.  If  long  delayed,  water  may  flow 
through  the  tile,  and  seriously  interfere  with  any  work 
at  the  outlet.  We  give  an  illustration  of  a  good  way 
to  secure  the  outlet  from  injury  in  fig.  19.  Dig  a  pit 
two  feet  square  where  the  outlet  is  located,  and  lay  a 
foundation  of  stone  deep  enough  to  be  safe  from  frost. 
Build  this  up  to  the  line  of  the  drain,  laying  the  stone 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   THE   WORK.  67 

in  cement  and  sand  mortar.  Lay  the  first  two  tiles 
upon  this,  being  careful  that  they  connect  correctly, 
and  continue  the  stone  work  to  within  one  foot  of  the 
surface.  A  grate  may  be  placed  a  little  distance  in 
front  of  the  end  of  the  tile,  and  fastened  as  the  ma- 
sonry proceeds ;  or  the  outlet  tile  may  .be  larger  than 
the  others,  and  have  wires  passed  through  holes  drilled 
in  the  tile  for  that  purpose.  Brick  may  be  used  in- 
stead of  stone,  or  even  wood  will  be  good  as  long  as 
it  lasts. 

After  the  tiles  are  first  covered  the  ditch  may  be 
filled  in  in  any  way  which  may  seem  desirable.  If 
the  earth  is  dry,  it  can  be  done  with  about  one-half 
the  expense  required  when  wet.  All  of  the  earth 
should  be  heaped  upon  the  ditch,  as  when  it  settles 
there  will  not  be  too  much.  When  done  by  hand  a 
simple  and  expeditious  method  is  to  pass  a  rope  around 
the  blade  of  a  large  scoop-shovel,  then  with  one  man 
pulling  at  the  rope  on  one  side  of  the  ditch,  and  an- 
other pushing  upon  the  handle  upon  the  other  side,  the 
earth  can  be  moved  rapidly. 

We  have  described  only  one  way  of  performing  the 
work.  Many  practical  workmen  in  drainage  may  take 
exceptions  to  it,  and  recommend  a  better  way.  Any 
method  which  is  well  understood  and  gives  good  re- 
sults is  apt  to  be  regarded  as  the  best.  That  which 
we  have  described  has  been  demonstrated  by  actual 
use  to  be  practical  and  correct. 

DIFFICULTIES  IN  CONSTRUCTING  DRAINS. 

At  some  seasons  ditches  may  be  dug  with  less  ex- 
pense than  at  others ;  but  the  most  favorable  time  can 
not  always  be  selected.  The  clay  subsoil  may  be  dry 
and  hard,  necessitating  slow  work,  and  sometimes  the 


68  PEACTICAL    FARM    DRAINAGE. 

pick  must  be  used.  Under  such  difficulties  the  ditch 
should  be  14  to  20  inches  wide  at  the  top,  that  the 
workman  may  have  room  for  his  arms  and  shoulders. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  earth  is  so  wet  that  it  will 
"  slump  in,"  the  sides  must  be  sloped  from  the  surface 
at  such  an  an^le  that  they  will  stand.  Another  way  to 
overcome  this  difficulty  in  deep  ditches'  is  to  "  sheet," 
by  driving  two-inch  planks  endwise  at  the  sides  of  the 
ditch  until  the  lower  ends  are  below  the  bottom  of  the 
required  ditch.  The  planks  may  be  kept  in  place  by 
cross  braces  above,  and  the  earth  taken  out  between  the 
lines  of "  sheeting,"  and  the  tile  laid  to  grade.  The 
planks  may  be  taken  up  and  another  section  prepared 
in  the  same  way.  This  method  is  to  be  resorted  to 
only  in  deep  ditches  opened  in  very  unstable  and 
treacherous  soil. 

If  the  soil  or  subsoil  is  a  wet  silt,  quicksand,  or 
other  material  which  "runs,"  the  joints  of  the  tiles 
should  be  covered  with  firm  clay,  or  a  band  of  grass 
or  straw.  This  will  keep  such  material  out  of  the 
drain  until  it  has  made  the  soil  sufficiently  dry  and 
firm  to  give  no  trouble  from  this  source.  If  the  drain 
can  be  put  in  position  and  the  earth  compacted  about 
it  without  moving  the  tiles,  there  is  little  to  fear  con- 
cerning its  success  and  durability. 

It  is  often  desirable  to  drain  a  spring,  but  the  earth 
is  usually  so  soft  that  the  tiles  can  not  be  placed  in 
position.  In  such  cases  a  bottom  can  be  most  easily 
made  by  placing  a  fence-board  for  the  tiles  to  rest 
upon,  observing  to  have  the  tiles  laid  upon  the  proper 
grade,  and  to  cover  them  with  a  few  inches  of  firm 
earth  to  hold  them  in  place  and  prevent  mud  from 
obstructing  the  drain.  Gravel-stone  or  clay  may  be 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS    OF   THE    WORK.  69 

used  for  a  bottom  with  good  results,  but  they  are  not 
always  easily  obtained. 

OBSTRUCTIONS  TO  DRAINS. 

Drains  are  sometimes  obstructed  by  the  roots  of 
such  trees  as  the  willow,  the  water  elm,  etc.  Experi- 
ence has  fully  proved  that  a  tile  drain  is  not  safe  near 
willows.  The  fine  roots  penetrate  the  line  at  the 
joints,  and  flourish  with  such  luxuriance  that  in  one 
or  two  years  the  tile  will  be  entirely  filled  with  root- 
lets. The  only  safe  way  is  to  destroy  all  such  trees 
within  seventy-five  feet.  For  a  properly  constructed 
drain,  the  only  care  it  requires  is  to  keep  the  outlet 
free  from  mud,  remove  the  silt  which  accumulates  in 
the  silt-basins,  and  to  see  that  no  trees  with  water- 
loving  propensities  are  permitted  to  obstruct  the  drain 
with  their  roots. 

JUNCTIONS. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  in  making  junctions  with 
other  drains,  that  the  joints  be  good,  and  that  the 
branch  drains  always  discharge  in  the  direction  of  the 
current  of  the  main  drain.  Right-angled  junction  tiles 
should  not  be  used.  Junctions  should  be  so  made  that 
the  branch  will  enter  at  an  angle  of  about  30°  with 
the  one  into  which  it  flows ;  or  if  a  greater  angle  is 
necessary,  the  mouth  of  the  branch  tile  should  be 
curved.  In  fig.  20  are  shown  sections  of  junctions  by 
which  the  truth  of  the  above  remarks  may  be  made 
more  apparent.  No.  1  is  a  section  of  a  right-angled 
junction.  Suppose  that  the  two  currents  meeting 
at  a  be  represented  by  the  lines  ab  and  ad;  the  veloci- 
ties being  equal,  the  lines  are  made  of  equal  length. 
Completing  what  is  termed  the  parallelogram  of  forces, 
abed,  and  drawing  the  resultant  ac,  we  have  the  direc- 


70 


PEACTICAL   FARAf   DRAINAGE. 


tion  of  the  current  resulting  from-  the  union  of  the 
two.  This  resultant,  it  will  be  seen,  flows  strongly 
against  the  opposite  side  of  the  tile,  checking  the  cur- 
rent by  the  friction  thus  caused,  and  also  creating  a  lit- 
tle eddy  in  which  earthy  material  washed  out  by  the 
drain  may  be  deposited.  If  the  velocity  is  greater  in 
the  branch,  as  is  often  the  case,  we  find  the  resultant 
in  the  same  way,  by  making  the  length  of  the  lines 
proportional  to  the  velocity  of  the  currents  we  have  to 
represent.  Supposing  the  velocity  of  the  current  in 


the  branch  to  be  twice  that  in  the  main.  The  result- 
ant ae,  in  No.  1,  shows  that  there  is  still  greater  resist- 
ance offered  than  in  the  first  case  assumed.  The  best 
form  for  a  junction  which  joins  a  branch  to  a  main  at 
nearly  right  angles,  is  shown  in  No.  2.  This  curves 
the  current  gradually  as  it  enters  the  main  stream, 
uniting  it  with  the  main  current  in  a  way  that  acceler- 
ates it  rather  than  retards  it  at  the  time  the  two  unite. 
No.  3  shows  the  resultant  of  the  two  currents  when 
they  unite  at  an  angle  of  30°,  which  is  the  preferable 
angle.  A  study  of  these  figures  will  show  the  neces- 
sity of  careful  attention  to  this  subject. 

Many  mistakes  have  been,  and  are  still  being  made 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS    OF   THE   WORK.  71 

by  western  farmers  in  the  practice  of  drainage.  Among 
them  we  notice,  first,  faulty  and  insufficient  outlets. 
This  is  a  difficulty  always  present  where  the  land  is 
flat.  The  remedy  is  for  farmers  to  unite  and  construct 
large  and  deep  open  ditches,  into  which  tile-drains 
may  discharge  freely.  Second,  the  use  of  tiles  too 
small  for  their  subsequent  work.  The  sizes  given  in  a 
previous  chapter  are  small  enough.  If  the  grade  upon 
which  they  are  to  be  laid  is  decreased,  the  size  of  the 
tiles  must  be  increased,  in  order  to  do  the  same  service. 
We  have  considered  the  subject  of  drainage  simply 
in  its  application  to  land  for  agricultural  purposes. 
~We  have  not  attempted  to  exhaust  the  subject,  or  to 
discuss  a  variety  of  opinions  and  practices,  but  to  give 
simply  the  principles  underlying  it,  and  a  practical 
method  of  carrying  them  out.  The  methods  of  calcu- 
lation used  by  drainage  engineers  have  not  been  en- 
tered into,  only  to  an  extent  which  may  be  of  use  to 
the  careful  farmer.  The  cost  of  drainage  and  the  profit 
to  be  derived  from  it  are  matters  upon  which  almost 
every  one  can  satisfy  himself  by  consulting  with  those 
in  his  vicinity  who  have  had  some  experience  in  the 
work.  If  whatever  is  done  be  done  well,  we  have  no 
fear  in  asserting  that  the  result  will  surprise  our  west- 
ern farmers,  and  will  so  add  value  to  prairie  farms  for 
agricultural  purposes  that  it  will  be  considered  the 
most  important  improvement  that  can  be  made  upon 
them. 


72  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DITCHING    MACHINES. 

Difficulties  Involved— Principles— The  Johnson  Tile  Ditcher— 
The  Blickensderfer  Tile  Drain  Ditcher. 

There  has  been  considerable  effort,  during  the  last 
few  years,  to  lessen  the  expense  of  ditching  for  tile- 
drams  by  the  invention  and  use  of  machines.  The 
success  thus  far  attained  is  very  encouraging,  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  soon  the  machine  will  very  largely 
supplement  hand-work  in  ditching.  There  are  many  dif- 
ficulties incident  to  the  digging  of  farm  drains.  Tha- 
soil  is  often  soft  and  sticky ;  at  other  times  it  is  hardr 
and  in  some  localities  contains  gravel  and  stone ;  deep 
cuts  must  sometimes  be  made ;  springs  must  be  drained ; 
in  short,  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  by  the  inventor 
of  a  tile  ditching  machine  can  hardly  be  appreciated 
by  any  one  unacquainted  with  practical  ditching. 

There  are  essentially  two  different  principles  upon 
which  the  machine  problem  is  being  worked  out.  One 
is  the  repeating  process,  by  which  the  machine  is  made 
to  pass  back  and  forth  over  the  ditch,  each  time  add- 
ing to  its  depth  until  it  is  completed.  The  other  com- 
pletes the  ditch  as  the  machine  advances,  requiring 
only  one  passage  over  the  ground. 

The  following  cut  represents  a  repeating  machine, 
called  the  Johnson  Tile  Ditcher,  manufactured  by  King, 
Hamilton  &  Co.,  Ottawa,  Illinois.  The  machine  is 
drawn  by  eight  horses,  four  abreast.  A  revolving 
wheel  containing  small  spades  loosens  the  earth  and  it 


DITCHING    MACHINES. 


73 


is  elevated  and  thrown  on  one  side  of  the  ditch.  At 
each  passage  of  the  machine  over  the  ground,  the  depth: 
of  cut  is  uniform  and  the  ditch  is  completed  with  a 


regular  grade  where  the  necessary  care  is  observed*. 
The  manufacturers  claim  that  they  can  cut  from  one 
hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  rods  of  three-foot 
ditch  per  day  with  this  machine,  and  leave  the  bottom, 
in  good  shape  to  receive  the  tile. 


74 


PRACTICAL   FAEM   DRAINAGE. 


DITCHING   MACHINES.  75 

The  cut  on  page  74,  represents  the  Blickensderfer  Tile 
Drain  Ditching  Machine,  manufactured  by  U.  Blick- 
ensderfer, Decatur,  Illinois,*  which  consists  of  a  large 
revolving  wheel  of  excavators  or  buckets  mounted 
upon  four  wheels.  The  buckets  are  of  a  new  and  pe- 
culiar shape  of  construction ;  they  grow  larger  inside 
from  their  mouth  or  cutting  edges  back,  and  as  the 
•clay  is  scooped  up  and  passed  in,  not  being  compressed, 
but  getting  into  larger  space  in  the  back  of  the  buck- 
ets, it  readily  drops  out  when  revolved  to  the  top  of 
the  wheel,  the  earth  being  thrown  on  an  inclined  apron 
to  one  side  of  the  ditch.  Curved  teeth  or  picks  of 
steel,  projecting  beyond  the  buckets,  loosen  hard-pan 
•clays  and  protect  the  buckets  from  stones,  which  they 
.also  lift  and  work  out  by  a  simple  manipulation  of  the 
revolving  wheel,  the  forward  motion  of  the  machine 
being  readily  checked  or  backed  during  the  operation 
without  stopping  the  horse. 

The  manufacturer  of  this  machine  claims  that  it  will 
•cut  a  ditch  over  four  feet  deep  in  one  passage  over  the 
ground,  and  at  the  same  time  give  any  desired  grade 
over  an  uneven  surface,  the  grade  being  as  perfect  as  a 
person  can  sight  the  top  of  a  row  of  stakes  set  to  indi- 
cate the  desired  grade. 

The  power  consists  of  a  single  horse,  used  upon  a 
sweep  around  the  machine,  which  revolves  the  buckets 
and  at  the  same  time  moves  the  machine  ahead,  requir- 
ing only  one  man  and  a  boy  to  attend  it.  It  will  cut 
from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  rods  of  ditch  per 
day,  finishing  it  accurately  for  the  tile.  The  bottom 
of  the  ditch  is  shaped  so  that  a  large  or  small  tile  will, 
fit  it  and  not  roll  or  get  misplaced. 

These,  as  well  as  other  machines  for  digging  ditches, 

^Formerly  Erie,  Pa. 


76  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

are  worthy  of  close  attention  on  the  part  of  tile  drain- 
ers. If  they  are  not  yet  already  satisfactory  in  every 
respect,  it  is  quite  probable  that  one  or  all  of  them 
will  soon  take  the  place  of  hand-ditching,  at  least  in 
many  kinds  of  soil.  .  The  outlook  for  reclaiming  our 
waste  lands  and  the  improvement  of  cultivated  farms 
is  very  promising  when  we  consider  the  impetus  which 
successful  tile  and  ditch  machinery  is  giving  to  this 
progressive  work.  The  old  adage  "  Nothing  succeeds 
like  success"  has  proven  true  in  the  history  of  drain- 
ing, and  will  also  be  true  of  the  ditching  machine 
which  once  shows  to  the  people  that  it  is  a  success  in 
the  way  of  doing  good  work  at  less  cost  than  it  can 
be  done  by  ordinary  hand  work. 


COST  AND   PROFIT.  77 


CHAPTER  VII. 

COST  AND  PROFIT. 

Cost  of  Drainage — Cost  of  Mains — Profits  of  Drainage. 
COST  OF  DRAINING. 

The  first  cost  of  draining  is  what  frightens  many 
farmers  when  the  subject  is  brought  to  their  notice. 
Draining  should  be  regarded  as  an  investment  of  capi- 
tal. The  farmer's  land,  his  necessary  stock  and  imple- 
ments, and  his  yearly  labor  are  regarded  as  his  capital. 
All  that  he  can  make  by  the  management  of  these  is 
the  profit  of  his  business.  But  to  drain,  cash  capital 
is  required.  If  the  farmer  does  not  possess  this,  and 
can  not  get  it  at  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest,  he  can 
not  drain.  If  he  has  been  prosperous,  and,  as  a  result, 
he  has  in  his  possession  a  little  cash  capital,  he  does 
not  hesitate  to  use  it  in  adding  to  his  facilities  for  in- 
creasing his  profits.  Nor  does  he  hesitate  long  to  pay 
a  reasonable  rate  of  interest  for  money  with  which  to 
add  to  his  working  force  if  he  can  see  that  there  is  a 
fair  prospect  of  making  a  much  larger  profit  than  the 
rate  of  interest  he  is  obliged  to  pay. 

Without  naming  a  definite  number  of  dollars  and 
cents,  let  us  take  this  general  statement,  which  is  ad- 
mitted by  all  who  have  drained  t-o  any  extent,  that  on 
ordinary  farm  land  that  will  produce  but  one-fourth 
to  one-half  a  crop,  the  total  cost  of  draining  will  be 
met  by  the  additional  crop  that  will  be  produced 
during  the  next  two  years  after  draining.  The  cost  of 
cultivating  drained  land  is  less  than  for  wet  land,  as 


78  PRACTICAL. FARM    DRAINAGE. 

all  who  have  tried  both  will  admit.  By  this  invest- 
ment the  farmer  will  get  fair  wages  for  what  work  he 
does  upon  his  land,  his  money  will  be  in  his  pocket 
again  at  the  end  of  two  years,  and  his  land  drained 
and  ready  to  return  his  money  every  succeeding  two 
years.  Many  farmers  cultivate  land  which,  in  reality, 
does  not  pay  them  a  fair  remuneration  in  the  crop 
they  get  from  it.  Their  profits  come  from  land  which 
is  in  good  condition  and  will  produce  good  crops. 
Very  often  they  would  make  more  to  wholly  discard 
the  wet  land  and  give  more  labor  to  that  which  will 
give  some  return  for  it. 

Where  land  is  worth  fifty  dollars  per  acre,  it  will 
pay  a  large  return  to  drain  wet  land.  It  is  true  that 
much  western  farming  is  done  on  cheap  land  where  it 
is  the  custom  to  cultivate  a  part  of  the  farm,  which  is 
naturally  surface-drained,  and  use  the  rest  for  grazing 
purposes.  Draining  under  such  conditions  will  not 
pay,  because  the  farmer  has  not  the  facilities  for  using 
the  good  land  he  already  has  in  his  possession.  Such 
farming,  however,  is  fast  coming  under  the  more  ad- 
vanced system  in  which  "more  work  and  less  land"  is 
the  motto. 

The  cost  of  draining,  like  any  other  enterprise  un- 
dertaken upon  the  farm,  will  always  vary  with  the  price 
of  labor,  yet  farm  products  usually  bear  a  price 
commensurate  with  farm  labor,  so  that  the  relation 
of  the  two  will  be  about  the  same.  There  are  two 
things  which  will  vary  the  expense  of  draining  what- 
ever may  be  the  relation  between  farm  products  and 
farm  labor.  These  are :  the  main  drains,  which  will 
necessarily  vary  in  size,  length  and  depth,  and  the  de- 
gree of  thoroughness  with  which  draining  is  done. 


COST   AND    PROFIT. 


79 


COST  OF  MAINS* 

It  will  be  easily  understood  that  a  field  or  farm  may 
be  so  situated  that  very  little  expense  will  be  required, 
for  large  mains  into  which  to  discharge  the  laterals.  It 
may  be  for  the  reason  that  the  field  is  near  some  large- 
open  ditch,  or  some  stream  which  is  easily  reached. 
Draining  will  then  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  expense. 
There  are  often  cases  where  a  main  drain  of  considera- 
ble size  must  be  long  and  laid  deep  in  order  to   give 
the  necessary  outlet  to  the  field. 

It  is  the  custom  of  ditchers  to  dig  ditches  and  lay  tile 
by  the  rod,  though  a  more  convenient  unit  would  be 
the  foot  or  one  hundred  feet.  As  a  basis,  we  will  say 
that  ordinary  diggers  can  be  had  for  $1.50  per  day, 
and  good  ditchers  at  $2.00  per  day.  For  a  main  drain, 
laid  at  different  depths  and  with  tile  of  different  sizes,, 
the  expense  per  one  hundred  feet  is  as  follows : 

Cost  of  Five-inch  Main  per  One  Hundred  Feet. 


Depth  of      Cost  of  Digging 
Ditch.         and  Laying. 

Cost  of  Tile. 

Cost  of  Filling 
Ditch. 

Total  Cost  per 
100  feet. 

3  feet. 

$1  50 

$3  00 

30  cents. 

$4  80 

4  feet. 

2  00 

3  00 

42  cents. 

5  42 

5  feet, 

3  00 

3  00 

60  cents. 

6  60 

6  feet. 

4  50 

3  00 

75  cents. 

8  25    . 

80  PRACTICAL  FARM   DRAINAGE. 

Cost  of  Six-inch  Main  per  One  Hundred  Feet. 


Depth  of 
Ditch. 

Cost  of  Digging 
and  Laying. 

Cost  of  Tile. 

Cost  of  Filling 
Ditch. 

Total  Cost  per 
100  feet. 

3  feet. 

$1  50 

$4  00 

30  cents. 

$5  80 

4  feet. 

2  10 

4  00 

42  cents. 

6  52 

5  feet. 

3  00 

4  00 

66  cents. 

7  66 

6  feet. 

5  10 

4  00 

78  cents. 

9  88 

Cost  of  Seven-inch  Main  per  One  Hundred  Feet. 


;Depth  of 
Ditch. 

Cost  of  Digging 
and  Laying. 

Cost  of  Tile. 

Cost  of  Filling 
Ditch. 

Total  Cost  per 
100  feet. 

3  feet. 

$1  80 

$6  00 

36  cents. 

$8  16 

4  feet. 

2  40 

6  00 

48  cents. 

8  88 

•  5  feet. 

3  00 

6  00 

72  cents. 

9  72 

6  feet. 

5  70 

6  00 

90  cents. 

12  60 

Cost  of  Eight-inch  Main  per  One  Hundred  Feet. 


Depth  of 
Ditch. 

Cost  of  Digging 
and  Laying. 

Cost  of  Tile. 

Cost  of  Filling 
Ditch. 

Total  Cost  per 
100  feet. 

3  feet. 

$1  92 

$8  50 

42  cents. 

$10  84 

4  feet. 

2  58 

8  50 

54  cents. 

11  62 

5  feet. 

3  90 

8  50 

78  cents. 

13  18 

6  feet. 

6  00 

8  50 

$1  00 

15  52 

These  tables  give  a  pretty  close  estimate  of  the  cost 
of  mains  in  general,  when  wages  are  two  dollars  per 
day  for  good  ditchers.  To  this  should  be  added  the 
<x>st  of  boarding  the  men  while  they  are  at  work,  and 


COST   AND   PROFIT.  SI 

of  hauling  the  tile  from  the  factory,  or  station  to 
which  they  are  shipped.  The  estimate  for  filling  the 
ditches  is  made  on  the  basis  of  part  being  done  by 
hand  and  part  by  team  work.  It  is  often  the  case  that 
ditches  can  be  filled  with  but  little  expense  by  using  a 
steady  team  with  a  plow  and  scraper.  When  it  is 
necessary  to  dig  the  ditch  five  or  six  feet  deep,  the 
risk  of  striking  rocks,  hard  clay  or  quicksand  makes 
the  estimate  more  unreliable,  and  it  will  be  found  in 
such  cases  that  the  cost  of  digging  the  ditch  and  lay- 
ing the  tile  will  run  over,  rather  than  under,  the  esti- 
mate. 

It  should  be  clearly  understood  that  these  items  of 
€ost  will  vary  greatly  with  different  years  and  in  dif- 
ferent localities.  The  cost  of  tile  and  labor  are  not 
the  same  for  two  years  in  succession,  hence  the  forego- 
ing estimate  must  be  varied  with  such  changes. 

The  actual  cost  to  the  farmer  may  be  greatly  dimin- 
ished by  "taking  time  by  the  forelock,"  getting  his 
plans  well  laid,  and  when  his  farm  help  is  not  rushed 
with  work,  let  them  devote  their  time  to  the  drains. 
There  are  winters  which  are  often  so  free  from  cold 
weather  that  ditching  can  be  done  to  good  advantage 
if  the  tile  have  been  previously  hauled.  Help  is  then 
plenty  and  cheaper  than  during  the  summer  months. 
There  are  other  seasons  of  the  year  when  the  forces  of 
the  farm  can  be  used  with  economy  in  carrying  on 
drainage  work. 

COST  OF  BRANCH  DRAINS. 

Branch  drains,  laid  from  three  feet  to  three  and  a 

half  feet  deep,  in  ordinary  farm  land,  which  will  spade 

easily,   will    cost  $2.00    per    one    hundred    feet   for 

digging    the   ditch,    laying    the   tile   and    filling   up 

6 


82  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

the  ditch.  Three-inch  and  four-inch  tile  cost  from 
$1.32  to  $2.00  per  one  hurdred  feet  respectively. 
Add  to  this  the  cost  of  boarding  the  men  while  en- 
gaged in  the  work,  and  of  hauling  the  tile  to  the 
ground,  and  we  have  a  close  approximation  of  the 
cost  of  draining  per  one  hundred  feet.  There  are  a 
few  incidental  matters,  such  as  protecting  the  outlet 
tile,  silt  basins,  if  any  are  needed,  and  surveying,  which 
should  be  taken  into  account. 

The  actual  cost  per  acre  will  depend  upon  how  many 
rods  of  drain  are  laid  upon  an  acre.  A  field  having 
several  wet  places  and  always  troublesome  to  cultivate 
in  the  spring,  to  say  nothing  of  the  loss  incurred,  can 
often  be  drained  out  in  good  shape  at  a  cost  of  about 
five  dollars  per  acre  for  the  whole  field.  The  cost  of 
draining  a  field  by  placing  the  laterals  from  sixty  feet 
to  one  hundred  feet  apart,  making  a  fair  allowance  for 
the  extra  cost  of  mains,  is  from  fifteen  to  twenty  dol- 
lars per  acre,  at  prices  as  they  exist  at  the  present  writ- 
ing (1882). 

PROFITS  OF  DRAINING. 

Enough  has  been  said  incidentally,  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  concerning  the  profits  of  draining,  to  satisfy 
owners  of  wet  farming  lands,  that  it  is  better  to  re- 
claim such  lands  than  to  invest  capital  by  buying  new 
farms.  After  having  arrived  at  the  probable  cost  of 
the  work,  it  will  be  easy  to  estimate  the  increase  of 
crops  by  comparing  the  field  to  be  drained  with  one 
which  is  naturally  drained,  and  whose  productive  pow- 
ers have  been  well  ascertained.  If  the  land  is  in  such 
a  condition  that  it  will  produce  nothing  without  drain- 
ing, the  entire  crop,  after  deducting  the  cost  of  pro- 
ducing, will  be  profit.  We  will  suppose  that  an  un- 
drained  field  will  produce  twenty  bushels  of  corn  per 


COST   AND   PKOFIT.  83 

acre.  If  well  drained,  the  same  labor  and  expense  in 
cultivating  will  produce  fifty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre. 
Here  is  a  gain  of  thirty  bushels  per  acre,  which,  at 
forty  cents  per  bushel,  will  be  twelve  dollars  per  acre 
as  profit.  The  labor,  which  in  the  first  case  produces 
eight  dollars,  in  the  second  brings  twenty  dollars. 
Other  crops  can  easily  be  figured  in  the  same  way,  and 
such  results  are  realized  every  year  by  farmers  who 
have  drained  in  an  economical  and  thorough  way. 
The  farmer  will  have  more  confidence  in  his  work  if  he 
investigates  and  figures  for  himself.  Let  him  estimate 
the  cost  carefully  and  compare  it  with  the  expected 
gain.  We  do  not  advise  any  one  to  go  at  this  work 
blindly,  or  because  others  say  it  is  all  right.  Count 
the  cost  and  the  expected  increase  fairly,  and  then 
shape  your  course  accordingly. 

We  can  give  in  a  sentence  the  condensed  evidence 
of  scores  of  farmers  upon  this  subject  of  profit,  viz : 
that  draining  pays  from  twenty-five  per  cent,  to  fifty  per 
cent,  on  the  investment.  The  writer  regards  it  as  almost 
superfluous  to  publish  individual  statements  regarding 
this  subject,  as  they  can  be  found  in  almost  every  pa- 
per published  in  the  interest  of  farmers.  The  aim  of 
the  author  has  been  to  tell  how  to  drain  in  such  a  way 
that  the  best  results  may  be  obtained.  The  profits  will 
be  assured  if  the  work  is  adapted  to  the  case  in  hand 
and  well  done. 


84  PRACTICAL   FA^IM   DRAINAGE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ROAD  DRAINAGE. 

Improvement  of    Koads — Surface  Drainage— Under -Drainage- 
Effect  of  Tile  Drains  upon  Roads— Care  of  Drained  Roads. 

ROAD  DRAINAGE. 

While  the  drainage  of  farm  lands  is  of  great  impor- 
tance as  an  aid  in  the  production  of  large  crops,  the 
drainage  and  other  improvement  of  our  public  roads 
may  be  regarded  as  meriting  equal  attention,  since  the 
farmer  must  have  an  opportunity  to  market  his  pro- 
ducts, which  is  commensurate  with  their  quantity. 

Western  roads  are  often  impassable  for  loads  during 
several  months  of  the  year  by  reason  of  the  mud. 
There  are,  of  course,  parts  of  the  West  in  which  the 
roads  are  graveled,  or  are  by  nature  good  nearly  all  the 
year.  To  improve  our  roads,  as  we  have  them  now,  is 
an  *  important  problem.  The  arguments  for  gravel 
roads  on  prairie  land  have  very  little  force  considering 
the  great  distance  from  which  gravel  and  stone  must, 
in  most  cases,  be  brought,  and  the  consequent  expense. 
Were  the  gravel  at  hand,  it  could  not  be  used  for  the 
construction  of  roads  until  a  firm  foundation  had  been 
prepared  for  it  by  drainage. 

Let  us  take  the  roads  as  they  are  and  improve  them 
by  using  the  means  within  our  reach.  All  that  has 
usually  been  done  to  our  roads  in  the  way  of  improve- 
ment has  been  to  make  sloughs,  ponds  and  swamps 
passable.  An  embankment  has  been  made  through 
these  places  by  scraping  the  earth  from  either  side  to- 


ROAD    DRAINAGE.  85 

wards  the  middle  of  the  road,  leaving  ditches  about 
two  feet  deep,  and  making  an  embankment  two  or  three 
feet  high.  Plank  culverts  are  used  in  the  sloughs  to 
allow  the  water  to  pass  through  the  embankment.  The 
side  ditches  are  often  made  with  little  reference  to  the 
discharge  of  the  water  which  they  collect  from  the 
road  and  adjacent  fields.  As  a  consequence  these 
ditches  remain  full  of  water  during  a  large  part  of  the 
spring,  saturating  the  bottom  or  the  embankment  until 
it  is  in  a  soft  and  plastic  condition.  The  surface  of 
the  road  becomes  broken  up  by  the  frost  as  it  comes 
out  of  the  ground,  the  spring  rains  penetrate  it  until 
the  saturated  surface  meets  that  of  the  bottom,  and  we 
have  a  mass  of  mud  impassable  as  a  road,  and  a  dis- 
couraging contrast  to  the  smooth  and  firm  road  en- 
joyed by  travelers  the  summer  before.  As  the  water 
evaporates,  or  slowly  drains  off  through  the  soil,  the 
road  begins  to  dry  and  in  process  of  time  becomes 
firm  but  rough,  the  track  full  of  ruts,  which  will  hold 
water  to  their  full  capacity  at  every  rain-fall,  while  the 
embankment  is  flattened,  and  perhaps  hollow  in  the 
middle.  The  road  is  annually  repaired  by  raising  the 
embankment  a  little  with  newly  dug  earth,  and  the 
process  goes  on  from  year  to  year. 

IMPROVEMENT  OF  ROADS. 

As  before  stated,  we  wish  to  take  our  roads  as  they 
are,  and  make  them  better  by  using  the  means  within 
our  reach.  We  may  have  our  ideas  of  what  perfect 
roads  ought  to  be,  and  show  what  has  been  done  to- 
wards their  attainment  in  other  localities ;  but  yet  our 
own  roads  will  remain  as  bad  as  ever  until  we  hit 
upon  some  system  which  will  apply  to  our  soil  and 
particular  need. 


86  PRACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

Owing  to  the  readiness  with  which  our  soil  absorbs 
water,  there  will  be  a  time  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
when  the  frost  is  coming  out  of  the  ground,  that  the 
surface  will  be  soft  and  not  fit  to  travel  upon,  do  what 
we  will ;  but  the  length  of  the  time  during  which  this 
is  the  case  may  be  greatly  shortened  by  a  proper  sys- 
tem of  drainage.  As  roads  are  now  worked,  they  are 
unfit  for  heavy  travel  for  two  months  or  more  in  the 
spring.  If  drained,  this  time  can  be  decreased  at 
least  one-half,  the  road  be  much  better  for  the  remain- 
der of  the  year,  and  the  expense  for  repairs  be  reduced 
to  a  minimum. 

SURFACE  DRAINAGE. 

The  most  essential  feature  of  a  good  road  on  prairie 
soil  is  a  hard  and  smooth  surface.  When  a  road  track, 
upon  prairie  loam  is  examined,  it  will  be  found  that 
for  a  depth  of  about  ten  inches  there  is  a  hard  and 
compact  crust,  while  below,  the  soil  is  as  loose  as  that 
in  a  meadow.  The  value  of  the  road  depends  upon 
keeping  this  crust  intact.  The  road  bed  should  be 
raised  and  sloped  sufficiently  from  the  center  line  to- 
wards the  ditches,  to  carry  off  the  rain-fall.  If  the 
road  bed  is  not  deeply  rutted,  the  rain  will  flow  off 
so  rapidly  that  the  road  crust  will  not  be  badly  soft- 
ened. The  incline  from  the  middle  in  an  eighteen- 
foot  road  should  be  about  six  inches.  If  the  road  is 
not  embanked,  the  storm-water,  even  on  naturally 
drained  roads,  will  run  down  the  slope  in  the  road 
track  until  it  is  spoiled,  and  a  new  one  must  be  made. 
The  side  ditches  are  valuable  in  collecting  the  water 
of  heavy  rains,  and  suitable  outlets  should  be  provided 
for  them. 


ROAD    DRAINAGE. 


87 


$ 


UNDER-DRAINAGE. 

The  object  of  under-draining  a  road  is  simply  to 
keep  the  bottom  of  the  embankment  firm  at  all  times 
of  the  year.  The  open  ditches  should  carry  off  the 
excess  of  storm  water,  but 
it  remains  for  the  tile-drains 
to  remove  what  the  ditches 
fail  to  carry  off,  and  to  give 
a  dry  road  crust.  In  un-  ^ 
•der-draining  a  road,  first  ob-  <? 
tain  a  good,  free  outlet  for  ^ 
whatever  drains  may  be  § 
needed.  If  there  is  any  C, 
•doubt  upon  this  point,  use  ^ 
the  level  to  find  the  fall  3 
above  and  below  the  pro-  |' 
posed  outlet,  before  any  ® 
further  arrangements  are  | 
made.  Do  not  make  the  out-  <« 
let  at  some  little  ditch  which 
will  soon  fill  up,  but  be  sure 
that  all  the  water  that  will  ^ 
ever  be  discharged  from  the  ^ 
drains  can  flow  away  with-  I. 
out "  backing  up."  It  may 
be  that  the  outlet  must  be 
obtained  through  a  farm  ad- 
joining the  road.  In  such 
•cases  the  owner  of  the  farm 

and  the  road  authorities  should  unite  in  some  equita- 
ble way. 

Supposing  that  the  road  is  in  flat,  swampy  ground, 
lay  out  a  drain  lengthwise  of  the  road  on  each  side  of 
the  embankment  and  close  to  its  base,  as  shown  in  the 


88 


PRACTICAL  FARM:  DRAINAGE. 


plan  (fig.  23)  and. cross-section  (fig.  24).  The  reasons 
for  laying  a  drain  at  each  side  of  the  embankment,  in- 
stead of  one  in  the  middle  or  on  one  side,  are  as  fol- 
lows :  If  one  drain  is  laid  in  the  middle  of  the  road, 

all  water  which  enters  it  must 
pass    from   the   side    ditches 
through  the  base  of  the  em- 
bankment.    In  times  of  high 
water    the    drain    will    not 
carry  the  water  away  quickly 
.  enough,  consequently  the  base 
I  will  be,  for  a  time,  saturated. 
<j>  The  idea  that  a  drain  in  the 
*  middle  will  remove  the  water 
I  upon  the  road  bed  is  errone- 
§  ous,  for  at  such  times  the  mud 

&j 

•5.  is  puddled  and  will  permit  na 
|  water  to  pass  from  the  surface 
%  to  the  drain.     One  drain  at 
|  the  side  of  the  embankment, 
(  though  excellent,  is  often  in- 
e>  sufficient  to  give  good  drain- 
^  age.    Two  drains  laid  in  the 
way  indicated  in  the   figures 
will   prevent  all  water   from, 
saturating  the  base  of  the  em- 
bankment, even  in  the  wettest 
times.  The  drains  should  con- 
tinue as  far  as  the  ground  is 
wet  to  any  extent  in  the  spring. 

If  there  are  ponds  near  by,  which,  in  times  of  heavy 
rains,  overflow  and  discharge  into  the  road,  side  drains- 
should  be  extended  to  them,  as  shown  in  figure  23* 
Should  there  be  a  small  hollow  along  the  line  of  the 


ROAD   DRAINAGE.  SO' 

ditch,  as  sometimes  happens,  a  catch-basin  will  facili- 
tate the  removal  of  the  water.  This  is  a  pit  two  feet 
square,  dug  as  deep  as  the  tiles  are  laid.  After  the 
tiles  are  laid,  the  pit  is  filled  with  gravel  and  small 
stones.  The  object  of  this  basin  is  to  take  the  water 
which  gathers  so  quickly  in  such  places,  and  give  it  a 
rapid  ingress  to  the  tile. 

The  depth  of  the  drains  should  be  as  near  three  feet 
as  is  consistent  with  the  nature  of  the  ground.  As  the 
important  thing  to  look  after  is  the  rapid  removal  of 
water,  special  attention  should  be  given  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  work  is  done.  The  grades,  if  possible, 
should  not  be  less  than  three  or  four  inches  to  one 
hundred  feet.  The  principles  apply  in  this  work  as  in 
draining  land  for  farm  purposes,  though  the  object 
sought  is  different. 

The  size  of  the  tile  should  be  larger  than  would  be 
required  for  the  draining  of  the  soil  for  cultivation, 
for  the  reason  that  storm  water  is  thrown  rapidly  into 
the  side  ditches  from  the  surrounding  soil,  requiring 
the  tile  to  carry  much  more  in  a  short  time  than  if  the 
land  were  flat. 

As  suggestive  of  the  size  of  the  tile  that  it  is  best  to 
use,  we  may  give  the  following  directions :  For  drains 
eight  hundred  to  one  thousand  two  hundred  feet  long, 
use  three-inch  tile ;  one  thousand  two  hundred  to  two 
thousand  feet  long,  four-inch  tile ;  two  thousand  to 
three  thousand  feet  long,  five-inch  tile.  These  direc- 
tions apply  to  the  two  lines  of  tile  along  the  road,  laid 
upon  a  minimum  grade  of  three  inches  per  one  hun- 
dred feet.  If  these  do  not  discharge  into  an  open 
ditch,  the  size  of  the  tile  in  the  outlet  drain  should  be 
proportioned  to  the  road  drains. 


PRACTICAL   I*ARM   DRAINAGE. 


EFFECT  OF  TILE  DRAINS  UPON  THE  ROAD. 

The  drains  keep  the  embankment  firm  by  prevent- 
ing water  from  penetrating  it  from  the  bottom  and 
sides.  The  whole  of  the  road  is  kept  dry,  except  the 

crust  at  the  top,  which, 
if  traveled  upon  when 
wet,  becomes  puddled 
and  will  allow  no  water 
to  go  through.  This 
part  of  the  road  bed 
must  be  made  dry  by 
surface  drainage  and 
evaporation.  During 
the  fall  and  winter  the 
whole  road  embank- 
ment  becomes  thor- 
oughly  drained,  so  that 
there  is  only  a  little 
frost  to  come  out  and 


.  soften  the  surface  of  the 
road  in  the  spring.  If 
§>  we  could  make  em- 
bankments  along  our 
roads  four  or  five  feet 
|  high,  we  should  con- 
sider  our  roads  well 
drained.  Instead  of 
this,  we  withdraw  the 
water  to  a  depth  of  four 
or  five  feet  from  the  surface  of  the  road,  which  gives 
it  the  effect  of  an  embankment,  as  shown  by  the  dot- 
ted lines  a  b  in  fig.  24.  Draining  does  even  better 
than  this,  for  in  the  case  of  the  raised  embankment 
water  often  stands  in  the  large  ditches  at  the  side ;  but 


ROAD   DRAINAGE.  91 

when  the  under-drains  are  laid,  no  water  at  any  time 
stands  higher  than  the  drains. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  under-draining  does 
not  prevent  rain  from  penetrating  the  surface  and  al- 
lowing the  road  to  be  cut  into  ruts ;  but  this  affects 
only  the  surface  and  for  a  comparatively  short  time. 

A  tile-drain  may  be  used  in  many  places  to  intercept 
water  which  percolates  through  banks  lying  higher 
than  the  roadway.  One  line  of  tile,  laid  between  the 
bank  and  road,  as  shown  in  fig.  25,  will  often  cut  off 
the  water  at  such  a  depth  as  to  render  a  road  firm 
which  has  previously  been  soft.  Springs  of  water 
often  make  muddy  spots  in  a  road.  The  sources  of 
such  water  should  be  hunted  up,  and  drains  laid  where 
they  will  convey  the  water  from  the  road. 

The  only  hope  we  have  for  good  roads  on  our  prairie 
soil  is  to  keep  them  dry  by  removing  the  water  as 
quickly  as  possible  from  the  surface,  and  preventing 
the  substratum  from  becoming  saturated. 

CARE  OF  A  DRAINED  ROAD. 

After  the  road  bed  has  once  been  put  into  proper 
shape,  and  well  drained,  nothing  should  be  done  ex- 
cept to  keep  the  surface  in  shape  and  as  smooth  as 
possible.  The  old  crust  is  better  than  any  new,  and 
should  be  preserved  with  the  utmost  care.  All  im- 
provement of  the  surface  should  be  upon  the  "stitch 
in  time"  principle.  When  the  road  becomes  rutted 
out  and  begins  to  dry,  it  should  be  smoothed  by  draw- 
ing over  it  some  machine  made  for  the  purpose,  of 
which  there  are  several.  If  the  drains  are  properly 
constructed,  the  outlet  attended  to,  as  in  the  instruc- 
tions given  on  farm  drainage,  the  road  will  require  but 
a  small  outlay  for  improvements  each  year. 


92  PEACTICAL   FARM   DRAINAGE. 

Road  drainage  has  been  experimented  upon  until  its 
benefits  have  been  fully  proved.  The  work  of  drain- 
ing many  roads  is  limited  because  of  the  difficulty  of 
securing  proper  outlets  for  the  drains.  Nothing  will 
obviate  this  except  hard  and  sometimes  expensive 
work.  It  can  never  be  expected  that  such  roads  will 
be  good  until  they  are  drained  in  such  a  way  that 
storm- water  will  pass  quickly  from  the  surface,  and  the 
sub-stratum  be  kept  firm  by  thorough  under-drainage. 


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